Time To Draft Another Quarterback, Manuel's Durability Is A Huge Problem

[BillsImpossible]

It will be interesting to see if EJ Manuel plays the final game against New England or sits out the rest of the season.

If he doesn't start next week, players in the locker room might begin to question EJ's toughness, and most important of all - his leadership. One way players earn the respect of their teammates is by playing hurt. If you can't play with pain, you can't play the game.

I really want to know how Fred Jackson honestly feels about the Bills young quarterback. Didn't Fred sprain his knee twice this season?

Besides the ill advised hit Manuel took in Cleveland, the rest of his injuries have been unnoticeable on film.

After Kevin Kolb slipped at St. John Fisher, did he give EJ Manuel his glass slipper?

From what I've heard and read, Manuel suffered his latest injury on the 2nd or 3rd last play of the Jacksonville game. He looked fine jogging onto the field with a huge smile on his face when the Bills won.

Is something going on here? Does Doug Marrone think Thad Lewis gives the Bills a better chance of winning?

For the first time this season, Marrone did not sound like himself when asked about EJ's durability.

Normally, words are not hard to speak for Doug Marrone but when he was defending Manuel in his answer something didn't sound right. He was reaching for words in a way that didn't sound like the coach I've heard all season. He was, "110% confident," that EJ would start against New England.

Is there such a thing as a one week knee injury in the NFL? What if Manuel says, "I can't go coach," and makes Marrone look like a fool?

All signs are pointing in one direction. The Bills are going to draft another QB.

[SquishDaFish]

Enough of this bull**** damn. A Rookie QB usually gets 20 or so starts. Give it some damn time

[Mace]

It will be interesting to see if EJ Manuel plays the final game against New England or sits out the rest of the season.

If he doesn't start next week, players in the locker room might begin to question EJ's toughness, and most important of all - his leadership. One way players earn the respect of their teammates is by playing hurt. If you can't play with pain, you can't play the game.

I really want to know how Fred Jackson honestly feels about the Bills young quarterback. Didn't Fred sprain his knee twice this season?

Besides the ill advised hit Manuel took in Cleveland, the rest of his injuries have been unnoticeable on film.

After Kevin Kolb slipped at St. John Fisher, did he give EJ Manuel his glass slipper?

From what I've heard and read, Manuel suffered his latest injury on the 2nd or 3rd last play of the Jacksonville game. He looked fine jogging onto the field with a huge smile on his face when the Bills won.

Is something going on here? Does Doug Marrone think Thad Lewis gives the Bills a better chance of winning?

For the first time this season, Marrone did not sound like himself when asked about EJ's durability.

Normally, words are not hard to speak for Doug Marrone but when he was defending Manuel in his answer something didn't sound right. He was reaching for words in a way that didn't sound like the coach I've heard all season. He was, "110% confident," that EJ would start against New England.

Is there such a thing as a one week knee injury in the NFL? What if Manuel says, "I can't go coach," and makes Marrone look like a fool?

All signs are pointing in one direction. The Bills are going to draft another QB.

Same old dilemma though. Are there any we can get who will be a better maybe than Maybe KneeJ, Maybe Lewis, or Maybe Tuel with a year in the system ?

No. They are saying it is a deep QB class, but it honestly looks to me like another weak one, made deep only by how many teams are desperate to go pearl diving. There isn't any available prospect head and shoulders more obvious than our available prospects, no matter how much it upsets anyone. Doesn't really make much sense imho to start over while your starting over before starting over in case you might need to start over before knowing much more than it was a crap year with new people and new systems with a bunch of the same predictable angst.

2015 maybe. No clue what happens next year. I think it's not going to go well next year, but I always think it's not going to go well next year anyway, and even did during the Kelly era.

Get a TE, LB, Tall WR, a guard, a tackle, a DT, any/or....however many..in whatever order. Not another QB yet.

[BertSquirtgum]

Enough of this bull**** damn. A Rookie QB usually gets 20 or so starts. Give it some damn time

They should still draft another quarterback. It doesn't have to be in the first round. The guys knees have been hurt three times. That's highly irregular.

[BillsFever21]

They should still draft another quarterback. It doesn't have to be in the first round. The guys knees have been hurt three times. That's highly irregular.

Even outside of his knee issues I would look into drafting another one if a decent talent was still sitting there in the 3rd round. Competition never hurts and at the very least you have a backup or a trade chip if the QB has any skills and shows some development. With Manuel's injury issues I'm willing to bet that QB would see the field at some point next year. If he plays alright then we possibly have a starter or at least trade material. The Redskins will surely get at least a single 2nd round pick for Cousins this offseason.

For people who say you have to at least give a rookie QB two years isn't always the case. It depends on how they look and who is available. I remember many people on here thinking that we could have a chance at Newton because the Panthers would never draft a QB and give up on their rookie one year after taking Jimmy Clausen in the 2nd round. Clausen was so horrible it was obvious they wouldn't pass on Newton if they liked him and put all of their eggs in Clausen's basket. With that logic then the Panthers wouldn't never drafted Cam Newton. It's not the exact perfect comparison because of where the guys were drafted but it's the same concept.

How many people thought that Brady Quinn was a real QB after his first season? How about Tim Tebow even after he went to the playoffs? There are tons of other examples. Now EJ hasn't been so bad where you totally throw him in the trash but between his play and injuries I wouldn't hesitate on drafting some competition if the right talent was there.

[SquishDaFish]

Oh I agree we need a definite QB to battle with him and push him. Tuel def isnt the answer there

[TacklingDummy]

Being injury prone is a big problem, sucking when he is healthy is a bigger problem.

[Mace]

They should still draft another quarterback. It doesn't have to be in the first round. The guys knees have been hurt three times. That's highly irregular.

And ridiculously unpredictable when you draft your potential acl repair franchise Griffin, brittle Ponder, not good Clausen, or insufficent Gabbert. Might get a Tebow, Geno Smith, even a Sam Bradford, Brandon Weeden, or a John Skelton. Maybe we can draft two of them even.

But keep bringing them in by the flock, we all want tons of turnover except when we are ranting about revolving door approaches to success. Revolving doors are terrible and the ticket to hell for the franchise so we need to use them more. Makes perfect sense.

This year went nowhere. If next year doesn't with these QB's we have bigger issues than the qb's. Like coaching and gm'ing, and then it starts over again soon so everyone can cheer and gnash their teeth that we keep changing everything because it doesn't work but we need to keep doing it.

[Skooby]

Johnny Football likes to win.

[BillsImpossible]

Jameis Winston is a better quarterback than EJ Manuel.

There, I said it.

[BillsImpossible]

Johnny Football likes to win.

I would love to have that cocky SOB as our QB. He makes JP Losman look humble in comparison.

[Typ0]

Even outside of his knee issues I would look into drafting another one if a decent talent was still sitting there in the 3rd round. Competition never hurts and at the very least you have a backup or a trade chip if the QB has any skills and shows some development. With Manuel's injury issues I'm willing to bet that QB would see the field at some point next year. If he plays alright then we possibly have a starter or at least trade material. The Redskins will surely get at least a single 2nd round pick for Cousins this offseason.

For people who say you have to at least give a rookie QB two years isn't always the case. It depends on how they look and who is available. I remember many people on here thinking that we could have a chance at Newton because the Panthers would never draft a QB and give up on their rookie one year after taking Jimmy Clausen in the 2nd round. Clausen was so horrible it was obvious they wouldn't pass on Newton if they liked him and put all of their eggs in Clausen's basket. With that logic then the Panthers wouldn't never drafted Cam Newton. It's not the exact perfect comparison because of where the guys were drafted but it's the same concept.

How many people thought that Brady Quinn was a real QB after his first season? How about Tim Tebow even after he went to the playoffs? There are tons of other examples. Now EJ hasn't been so bad where you totally throw him in the trash but between his play and injuries I wouldn't hesitate on drafting some competition if the right talent was there.

There are usually guys on the board who can play in other positions in the third round to be using that pick on a QB. I am sick of this draft a QB talk. Get a guy who already knows what he is doing or don't bother. Manual is an unknown right now as far as I am concerned. The guy could turn into an absolute stud. This first off season after his first on the field is huge for a QB ... quite honestly I hope they sit his ass for the last two games. I hear too many people bantering about what they are going to see against NE is determinant of EJ like the vision of a players future is like a finite superbowl or something. Crazy talk. Let him get healthy, compost the season and prepare for next year. Make sure there is plenty of competition in camp -- and not some late round pick of a rookie either. Don't coddle him I swear it's the team that turns these people into pansy asses. If he doesn't have the character to stand in there and beat out some high quality competition then we want another guy as it indicates he's just going to cave when the pressure is on. We give these guys the farm it's like a baby with a silver spoon they turn into ****.

[Mr. Pink]

Tajh Boyd in round 2.

[Jan Reimers]

It is very difficult to make a long term prediction on Manuel's durability based on one season. I would rather see us go WR, LG, RT, OLB - not necessarily in that order - in the early rounds.

[clumping platelets]

Fix the OL :mad:

[Night Train]

[QUOTE=BillsImpossible;3890427]

All signs are pointing in one direction. [QUOTE]

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQy0RoGmsL29iwFOPEl4PyEfVEC_aj0A5EFZXxX_bphEY7aUUrc-Q

[TacklingDummy]

Fix the OL :mad:

Odd things happen, when the QB produces all of a sudden the line looks better, the receivers are open, the run game works, and the defense gets better.

[BertSquirtgum]

Fix the OL :mad:

OL should definitely be 2 of the first 3 draft picks for the Bills. LG and RT, IMO. The Bills need a big physical play maker at the wide receiver too. Mike Evans fits that bill.

[better days]

Jameis Winston is a better quarterback than EJ Manuel.

There, I said it.

Do you expect Winston to be in this draft?

[Bangarang]

Odd things happen, when the QB produces all of a sudden the line looks better, the receivers are open, the run game works, and the defense gets better.

So just to be clear, are you saying our obvious holes at LG, RT, and possibly even RG are perfectly fine?

[TacklingDummy]

So just to be clear, are you saying our obvious holes at LG, RT, and possibly even RG are perfectly fine?

While not the perfect line, they have played well enough for the QB to produce.

Peyton Manning with this line would still be Peyton Manning.

[IAG]

I think Thad Lewis could be the answer?

[DynaPaul]

Come on people, take it easy on him. It's his first year and he's learning to be durable. LOL

[better days]

While not the perfect line, they have played well enough for the QB to produce.

Peyton Manning with this line would still be Peyton Manning.

It is FAR from the perfect OL.

Glenn & Wood are the only two GOOD players on it.

Manning while he can get rid of the ball quickly would probably be sacked more often than Manuel behind this OL because he is Drew Bledsoe like in regards to mobility.

[Mace]

I think Thad Lewis could be the answer?

I've wondered that time to time. Might mean I'm too desperate, too hopeful, or too crazy though. Would have to be some magical act of fate. Buffalo never gets a lot of magical acts of fate. I keep wondering it though.

[Bill Cody]

Thad isn't that bad

[Mr. Pink]

It's not surprise that this team runs the ball better when Thad Lewis or Jeff Tuel is in.

They throw the ball down field and stop the box from being crowded, opening up running lanes for the backs.

Spiller has looked like 2 different backs depending on if the QB is Manuel or someone else this year.

I've been saying that Thad is better all along, but better still isn't good enough. Hopefully the position is addressed in the offseason or Manuel gains some balls to throw the ball more than 5 yards downfield.

[alohabillsfan]

Enough of this bull**** damn. A Rookie QB usually gets 20 or so starts. Give it some damn time

Did you not see the lack of progression from college to pros?do you know how many plays he's had a the college level? He wasn't a one year starter with potential. He is the exact same guy every year. The sooner everyone realizes this the better. Draft a QB in the first and may the best QB win! EJ, Thad or 2014 pick!

[Historian]

Thad isn't that bad

I can picture Mikey sitting in the end zone with that sign, lol!

[Mike]

It is FAR from the perfect OL.

Glenn & Wood are the only two GOOD players on it.

Manning while he can get rid of the ball quickly would probably be sacked more often than Manuel behind this OL because he is Drew Bledsoe like in regards to mobility.


Dude you dont seem to get it.. Before the year started you were so assured how good the line was and how Levitre made little difference. Now we see that its not entirely the case. You can not let good players walk over $$$ and expect a similar level of production....

And the most important element to a lines success is.... QB


Lets look at 2 Teams over 2012 & 2013 seasons and compare:

Last season the Bills had one of the best O-Lines and the Cards had arguably the worst O-Line
The Cards O-Line was so bad, that many homers blamed them for Kevin Kolb's stugles. Stating that he was not injury prone but unlucky. That same QB would later go to join the Bills, show how bad he is under our Oline and you guessed it, get injured -on his day off.

A year later and the tables have turned. The Cards have a good o-line that open holes and give good pass protection for their QB while the same Bills o-line (minus one meaningless LG) is now one of the worst O-Line in the NFL?

What happened?
Simply the Cards went from having Kevin Kolb as QB to Carson Palmer
and the Bills went from Fitzmagic to Kolb to a raw rookie.

Last bit of data for you fellas.... Regardless of supporting cast, after the 3rd NFL season, QBs generally have the same QB efficiency regardless of whose around them! In other words, Manning, Brady, Brees, Big Ben, Cutler, etc... take any veteran QB and their QBR and QB rating tends to be around the same general range.

Simply put, Manning does NOT turn into Romo when surrounded by ok WR and Oline, he stays Manning and Romo does not turn into Manning when given superior surrounding talent.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Don't forget who's Cards HC. Hint, he developed Roethlisberger to who he is and groomed Luck to one of the most successful rookie season. He's doing a job on Palmer now.

[BillsFever21]

Don't forget who's Cards HC. Hint, he developed Roethlisberger to who he is and groomed Luck to one of the most successful rookie season. He's doing a job on Palmer now.

That's who I wanted the Bills to go after this year. After he stepped in for Pagano and helped the team thrive he had proved enough for me.

[alohabillsfan]

Oh please stop making exccuses for ej's performance, he is what he is. And im afraid to tell you but he isn't the franchise guy you covet.

[better days]

Dude you dont seem to get it.. Before the year started you were so assured how good the line was and how Levitre made little difference. Now we see that its not entirely the case. You can not let good players walk over $$$ and expect a similar level of production....

And the most important element to a lines success is.... QB


Lets look at 2 Teams over 2012 & 2013 seasons and compare:

Last season the Bills had one of the best O-Lines and the Cards had arguably the worst O-Line
The Cards O-Line was so bad, that many homers blamed them for Kevin Kolb's stugles. Stating that he was not injury prone but unlucky. That same QB would later go to join the Bills, show how bad he is under our Oline and you guessed it, get injured -on his day off.

A year later and the tables have turned. The Cards have a good o-line that open holes and give good pass protection for their QB while the same Bills o-line (minus one meaningless LG) is now one of the worst O-Line in the NFL?

What happened?
Simply the Cards went from having Kevin Kolb as QB to Carson Palmer
and the Bills went from Fitzmagic to Kolb to a raw rookie.

Last bit of data for you fellas.... Regardless of supporting cast, after the 3rd NFL season, QBs generally have the same QB efficiency regardless of whose around them! In other words, Manning, Brady, Brees, Big Ben, Cutler, etc... take any veteran QB and their QBR and QB rating tends to be around the same general range.

Simply put, Manning does NOT turn into Romo when surrounded by ok WR and Oline, he stays Manning and Romo does not turn into Manning when given superior surrounding talent.

You have the wrong guy. I said it was a HUGE mistake to not resign Levitre.

Simply the Cards have an IMPROVED OL this year. Nate Potter & Bobby Massie have IMPROVED a lot since their Rookie years last year.

Also, IMPROVED Coaching on the Cards. And they are using a lot of two TE sets to help the OL.

Agreed Manning is Manning & Romo is Romo, but any QB plays better when he is protected.

Example: Carson Palmer last year on the Raiders & Palmer this year on the Cards.

[justasportsfan]

Fix the OL :mad:

this.

Fix the OL and it wont matter if EJ takes 30 secs. to go through his reads. If he's doesn't panic at the moment of release, he might be more accurate.

[Saratoga Slim]

This thread seems to consist of an argument over whether we need to fix the QB position or the OL. To me it's not an argument. Both need additional talent. The OL lacks a legitimate starter at LG, lacks anyone dominant on the right half of the line, and lacks depth. Also, EJ hasn't done enough to secure the starting nod, or sucked enough to get cut. He should be on the roster, so should Thad Lewis, and so should another 2014 first-day talent. We're very simply never going to make the next step as a franchise until we get the QB position sorted out, and it's just plain bonkers to keep giving each of these guys 2-3 years to see if they've got it before using a high pick on another one.

Bottom line is both need continued infusions of talent. I'm hoping we can bring in a decent LG or RT in FA, and then maybe grab another OL and a QB in the first three rounds of the draft.

[better days]

This thread seems to consist of an argument over whether we need to fix the QB position or the OL. To me it's not an argument. Both need additional talent. The OL lacks a legitimate starter at LG, lacks anyone dominant on the right half of the line, and lacks depth. Also, EJ hasn't done enough to secure the starting nod, or sucked enough to get cut. He should be on the roster, so should Thad Lewis, and so should another 2014 first-day talent. We're very simply never going to make the next step as a franchise until we get the QB position sorted out, and it's just plain bonkers to keep giving each of these guys 2-3 years to see if they've got it before using a high pick on another one.

Bottom line is both need continued infusions of talent. I'm hoping we can bring in a decent LG or RT in FA, and then maybe grab another OL and a QB in the first three rounds of the draft.

If there is some QB in the draft that the front office projects as a BETTER QB than EJ, I say draft him.

I don't see who that would be myself. For all the talk about potential QB's before the College Season started I am UNIMPRESSED by the lot of them.

The draft of a QB in the first 3 rnds would cost the Bills a GOOD player who may have helped as much as Alonso or Woods have.

[JCBills]

Did you not see the lack of progression from college to pros?do you know how many plays he's had a the college level? He wasn't a one year starter with potential. He is the exact same guy every year. The sooner everyone realizes this the better. Draft a QB in the first and may the best QB win! EJ, Thad or 2014 pick!

Lack of progression? You know these things don't happen overnight, right?