Giants fans may be drawn to Kurt Warner’s celebrity, but there is an underlying sense that they really don’t want him to be their quarterback. It hardly matters that coach Tom Coughlin named Warner yesterday as the Giants’ starter going into the preseason opener against Kansas City this Friday; the buzz from the fans is about the quarterback of the future, Eli Manning.

For now, they’ll have to wait. Three years after his last great season with St. Louis, where he won two MVP awards and a Super Bowl ring, Kurt Warner’s health and efficiency are big question marks. Even if he is completely healthy (which some people doubt), and even if his passes are as sharp as they once were, he’s not going to reach those dizzying heights with the Giants.

While it’s still too early to tell exactly what the offense is going to look like under new coordinator John Hufnagel, it’s not going to be the relentless vertical attack that Warner piloted in St. Louis.

Behind the Giants shaky offensive line, Warner is not going to have enough time to complete 66.4% of his passes (his career average), nor will he establish any career bests in yards-percompletion given the Giants’ receiving corps and the uncertainty over the running attack. There is much grumbling that Warner’s other-worldy numbers were mostly a product of the system he played in, and that he’ll revert to mortal form with Big Blue. Nothing he’s shown in training camp thus far suggests otherwise.

The pinpoint accuracy doesn’t seem to be there anymore, and while he still seems to be able to make quick decisions, the scrimmage against the Jets last weekend showed that they aren’t always great decisions. In the Rams’ high-risk offense, it was all right if Warner threw 20 interceptions a year. In New York, that gunslinger approach isn’t going to work. Can Warner still win games in the NFL? Sure. Can he take the Giants to the playoffs? Certainly not.

So why is Warner here? First, take a look at the schedule. In the first five weeks the Giants play three tough road games against teams that made the playoffs in 2003 and improved their pass rush in the offseason – the Eagles, Packers, and Cowboys. Home games against the Browns and Redskins could be just as tough.

It’s hard enough for a rookie quarterback to learn how to read defenses and adjust to the speed of the NFL game. Having to do that while staring down veteran pass rushers like Jevon Kearse and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila makes Eli Manning’s job that much harder. It may not be until after the Week 6 bye, with home games against the Lions, Bears, and Falcons, and road games against soft defenses in Minnesota and Arizona, that Manning will see some real action.

The Giants are justifiably worried about their offensive line, which allowed 44 sacks last year. They don’t want Manning to get hammered so often that he develops bad habits. General Manager Ernie Accorsi has taken steps to improve the line, adding free agents Barry Stokes and Shaun O’Hara, and second round pick Chris Snee.

But it may take some time for this unit to gel and for the coaching staff to see how much better the pass protection is. With so much invested in Manning, it’s better to let someone else take them for a test drive.

Beyond just being a crash test dummy, the way Warner handles the adversity of those first few games should serve as a great lesson to the younger quarterback. Warner has a calm confidence that can’t help but affect the players around him.

Coming from a football family, with father Archie and brother Peyton to serve as examples, Manning is probably better prepared than the typical rookie quarterback to face the on and off-field pressures that come with being a starting quarterback. But with so much to learn, it can’t hurt to have a veteran around to show you the little things that matter.

Even if he’s no longer a superstar, Warner is a veteran who can keep the team afloat until Eli Manning is ready. No matter how well he plays, though, there will be no quarterback controversy.At some point, Manning will assume the helm.

Till then, it’s Kurt Warner’s show. If the Giants want to make the playoffs this year, they’ll need him to set them on the right course.