Why the Bills Drafted EJ Manuel in the First Round

[Don't Panic]

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/65051/page/NextLevel/why-bills-drafted-ej-manuel-in-first-round

Great piece from yesterday that breaks down the strengths of Manuel as pointed out by Marrone. Makes it very plain to see why they thought he was the best QB in the draft and not worth waiting any longer for. I don't know if he should start from day (http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php/218627-Should-EJ-Manuel-be-the-starter-from-day-1) one or not, but I think its pretty likely that they put him in before the season ends.

[Night Train]

I thought I was just supposed to read Kiper, McShay & Lande as Gospel and blindly parrot it as my opinion ?

What's this rational article doing on ESPN ? :rolleyes:

[BidsJr]

Not to go too far against the grain and compare a Black QB with a white one.... But If you changed the picture and EJ to Big Ben in that article, I would have never noticed the difference in skill set.

[don137]

Great information and article. I guarantee the Bills did more analysis and research on the QB position than any team or so called expert out there and the knew this kind of information and stats which is why they selected Manuel over the others. Throw in his leadership ability and I feel more comfortable with EJ than any other QB the Bills have brought in the last 20 years.

[trapezeus]

All good points, but then what were the knocks on him that made scouts have him 6th amongst the qbs.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

It will be a big mistake to start him from day 1 in my opinion.

All of these stats are good and dandy on EJ. The big thing in NFL is recognition and read defense. By all accounts, EJ can break down the film with the best of them - Nix said it, Marrone said it, Jim Kelly said it (an unexpected account when he took his nephew to the Florida State when EJ did a tape study). The point many people have is why that part of the game hasn't been shown on his film where he's still limited to half the field with two reads (high/low)?

The answer so far from Nix is that he was told to do so. And his coaches at Florida State confirmed that. The question then becomes if he had shown the ability to read whole field defense, wouldn't he be asked to do that? In public at least, no one gives the answer.

The guess from me and my buddy who works for an agency is that

1) EJ only started for two years. They might have plan for him to go the full field read should he started for 3rd and 4th years like Ponder was, but in the limited time window, winning games for Florida State is more important than developing a senior QB.

2) More importantly, film study in relaxed atmosphere in your facility is a lot different than game environment when someone is trying to take your head off. EJ can figure out what the defense was doing, just a tad slower than his coaches wanted him to under game situations. In other words, the game is still a bit too fast for him. That's why McShay said he has "slow eyes."

Think about it, if the college game is still too fast for him - or maybe he's at a point where he's just about adjusted to college game speed where he is allowed to do full field scan, and you want to throw him into the NFL speed which is another notch up RIGHT NOW?

Maybe EJ is a fast learner and has the unshakable self confidence to survive being thrown to the wolves, but the more safe path in his development would be another year in collge starting. Since we don't have that option, the next best thing is to play the scout team at NFL level which allows him to adapt to near NFL game level speed and full NFL level complexity.

[Saratoga Slim]

Mayock said it best: "You can mold him into something really special. He's raw, but he's that piece of clay where you take him and you can turn him to what you want."
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/tracker/by-round#dt-tabs:dt-by-team/dt-by-team-input:buf

I'm in favor of letting Kolb start for a while. EJ has talent but is probably not ready to go. If EJ was stepping into a system where everyone else knows what to do already, it might be a different situation. But we've got a whole new system and Stevie Johnson is the only receiver that's old enough to shave. I think it would be asking for pain to start EJ off the bat, and it might damage his confidence. No expectation of winning this season, so why force it.

Plus, I have this weird feeling that Kolb is going to surprise us.

[better days]

Not to go too far against the grain and compare a Black QB with a white one.... But If you changed the picture and EJ to Big Ben in that article, I would have never noticed the difference in skill set.

I think Big Ben is the QB EJ compares to. Everyone should look at the picture of EJ standing next to Jim Kelly shaking hands, EJ makes Kelly look SMALL.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I think Big Ben is the QB EJ compares to. Everyone should look at the picture of EJ standing next to Jim Kelly shaking hands, EJ makes Kelly look SMALL.

Ummm not quite on the comparison to Big Ben. They both have big body and strong arms. But the similarity ends there.

Roethlisberger does not have good feet in dodging pass rushers. He's just hard to bring down WHILE still making plays when someone is on him. Throwing motion foot work is always perfect for Ben, not quite for EJ who often throws off his back foot. But the big difference is reading defenses. Ben is known for finding the open guy from early college career and accurate in terms of catchable balls (not quite in correct shoulder or leading the receivers). In that regard, EJ is lagging far behind. Of course we are talking about a likely HOF QB here so it is not fair to do the comparison.

Personally I think a lot of mechanic flaws are related to mental part of the game. If you recognize the defense a tad slow, you don't anticipate well, which can lead to throwing off back foot etc. because the moment just comes upon you to throw the ball.

[BidsJr]

Ummm not quite on the comparison to Big Ben. They both have big body and strong arms. But the similarity ends there.

Roethlisberger does not have good feet in dodging pass rushers. He's just hard to bring down WHILE still making plays when someone is on him. Throwing motion foot work is always perfect for Ben, not quite for EJ who often throws off his back foot. But the big difference is reading defenses. Ben is known for finding the open guy from early college career and accurate in terms of catchable balls (not quite in correct shoulder or leading the receivers). In that regard, EJ is lagging far behind. Of course we are talking about a likely HOF QB here so it is not fair to do the comparison.

Personally I think a lot of mechanic flaws are related to mental part of the game. If you recognize the defense a tad slow, you don't anticipate well, which can lead to throwing off back foot etc. because the moment just comes upon you to throw the ball.


They both have a big body, make throws outside of the pocket, push the ball downfield and elude the rush well. Whether or not EJ can match down the field accuracy and the mental part of the game to the NFL will determine how exactly he compares to Big Ben. FWIW to make a comparison to a guy doesn't mean they have to be a carbon copy.

[justasportsfan]

I think Big Ben is the QB EJ compares to.

EJ drives a crotchrocket without any helmet and preys on drunken girls ?

[tomz]

Something I heard from Rich Gannon on Sirius today, which he said came from someone who was at the workout:

Manuel worked out for the Bills in crap weather, outside. It did not phase him a bit, no complaints, and he went out and lit it up. Cutting through the wind and everything.

Thought it was an interesting insight. if true, makes sense that the Bills would love the guy.

- - - Updated - - -

Oops. sorry, meant 'faze'.

[SCBILLFAN1]

My gut feeling is the Kolb is going to play well and win the starting job hands down, but EJ has some positives.
The good
1. His size
2. He's fast and elusive
3. His 68% completion rate as a senior
4. He's an academic all american

The bad
1. Throwing motion
2. Ability to read defenses

The ugly
1. He played against ACC defenses and they ain't too good.

[Buffalo Billy Bison]

I thought I was just supposed to read Kiper, McShay & Lande as Gospel and blindly parrot it as my opinion ?

What's this rational article doing on ESPN ? :rolleyes:

Tell how I can find something on How the 3 of them and the crew of the NFL channel did on their picks. I think that would be fascinating mull over, don't you?

[NOT THE DUDE...]

to win and get to the playoffs?

[better days]

Ummm not quite on the comparison to Big Ben. They both have big body and strong arms. But the similarity ends there.

Roethlisberger does not have good feet in dodging pass rushers. He's just hard to bring down WHILE still making plays when someone is on him. Throwing motion foot work is always perfect for Ben, not quite for EJ who often throws off his back foot. But the big difference is reading defenses. Ben is known for finding the open guy from early college career and accurate in terms of catchable balls (not quite in correct shoulder or leading the receivers). In that regard, EJ is lagging far behind. Of course we are talking about a likely HOF QB here so it is not fair to do the comparison.

Personally I think a lot of mechanic flaws are related to mental part of the game. If you recognize the defense a tad slow, you don't anticipate well, which can lead to throwing off back foot etc. because the moment just comes upon you to throw the ball.

If Big Ben was all that comming out of College, he would have been the #1 pick in the draft, NOT #11. And it is nonsense to say Roethlisburger does not have good feet. He does not have SPEED, but he can slide around in the pocket & buy time while a guy gets open downfield. With some experience I expect Manuel to play a similar game with the added ability to RUN. And EJ is fairly accurate already, should only get better.

[JoeMama]

Something I heard from Rich Gannon on Sirius today, which he said came from someone who was at the workout:

Manuel worked out for the Bills in crap weather, outside. It did not phase him a bit, no complaints, and he went out and lit it up. Cutting through the wind and everything.

Thought it was an interesting insight. if true, makes sense that the Bills would love the guy.

- - - Updated - - -

Oops. sorry, meant 'faze'.

That's setting the bar pretty low, don't you think?

Shouldn't a soon-to-be millionaire athlete be happy to play in any conditions? Especially when a team drafted him way higher than anyone expected?

It's nice if he looked good in practice but he damn well better have a good attitude about the weather.

[swiper]

E.J. Manuel impressed Bills at bad weather workout
(http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/30/e-j-manuel-impressed-bills-at-bad-weather-workout/)

“I remember when I first got the job here in Buffalo (http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2013/04/30/bad-weather-at-ejs-workout-helped/?campaign=tw_buf_blog), and I had been up here and played up here before, and I got out of the car in January and the wind I was like, ‘Wow.’ I never realized how windy it was that time of the year,” Marrone said on SiriusXM radio, via the team’s official website.

“We started talking about the quarterbacks, and we went back and researched all the teams that played in the Northeast in the bad weather and all the success they had with quarterbacks and the common traits that they had. They were big and had big hands and were able to throw the ball in tough weather and that’s what we were looking at.”

[Night Train]

It will be a big mistake to start him from day 1 in my opinion.

All of these stats are good and dandy on EJ. The big thing in NFL is recognition and read defense. By all accounts, EJ can break down the film with the best of them - Nix said it, Marrone said it, Jim Kelly said it (an unexpected account when he took his nephew to the Florida State when EJ did a tape study). The point many people have is why that part of the game hasn't been shown on his film where he's still limited to half the field with two reads (high/low)?


This makes sense... but this O may likely be 1-2 quick reads in shotgun formation and the ball is out, if I'm reading correctly what Hackett wishes to do. Could be designed early to keep Manuels jersey very clean.

Having Fred J and CJ beind him helps immensely in that both can run and catch the quick dump pass. Plus the strong points of both SJ and Woods at WR is catching the quick slant and making yards after.

Manuel is not going to be taking 5-7 step drops in the traditional pocket and I could only see a couple long shots down the field to a Graham/Goodwin type early on. I see him rolling out on plays out of the shotgun with a quick throw quite often. Don't ruin him...but what does starting Kolb for a year accomplish with a new coach who wishes the entire schemes on both sides of the ball to be in sync ?

Team expectations year 1 of a new regime are low and getting the ball out quickly or running out of bounds can keep him healthy. They won't overload his plate but I'm guessing they want him to go out in camp and win the job.

[better days]

That's setting the bar pretty low, don't you think?

Shouldn't a soon-to-be millionaire athlete be happy to play in any conditions? Especially when a team drafted him way higher than anyone expected?

It's nice if he looked good in practice but he damn well better have a good attitude about the weather.

NONSENSE. Didn't you hear what Jim Kelly thought about being drafted by Buffalo? Only an IDIOT would be happy to get drafted & play in the Buffalo weather if he had a choice between that & a Dome or Warm Weather City.