A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

[BillsImpossible]

I think this question answers the biggest question of them all. (Do the Bills have a franchise QB in EJ Manuel?)

If EJ Manuel never got injured in the preseason, his notorious injury against the Browns on Thursday Night never happened and he started all 16 games in 2013, what would the Bills record have been, realistically?

I think the conference games against the Browns, Bengals, and Chiefs would have been wins with a fully healthy EJ Manuel.

9-7 ? That's playoff material.

9-7 is a very good record for a rookie NFL quarterback, playing under a rookie head coach and an entirely new system.

Manuel missed a lot of time last year. From preseason to the regular season, EJ was plagued with injuries.

Take away those injuries, and extrapolate.

People can't expect a rookie QB to perform at his best after having surgery on his knee, injuring his other knee, and then injuring the same knee he had surgery on all in the same season.

I can't even perform my best at work if I have a cold.

What happened in 2013 is only going to make EJ Manuel a stronger, better quarterback.

Break a branch or two, and a tree suffers a temporary setback, but in the long run it grows back stronger than before.

[WagonCircler]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

I think this question answers the biggest question of them all. (Do the Bills have a franchise QB in EJ Manuel?)

If EJ Manuel never got injured in the preseason, his notorious injury against the Browns on Thursday Night never happened and he started all 16 games in 2013, what would the Bills record have been, realistically?

I think the conference games against the Browns, Bengals, and Chiefs would have been wins with a fully healthy EJ Manuel.

9-7 ? That's playoff material.

9-7 is a very good record for a rookie NFL quarterback, playing under a rookie head coach and an entirely new system.

Manuel missed a lot of time last year. From preseason to the regular season, EJ was plagued with injuries.

Take away those injuries, and extrapolate.

People can't expect a rookie QB to perform at his best after having surgery on his knee, injuring his other knee, and then injuring the same knee he had surgery on all in the same season.

I can't even perform my best at work if I have a cold.

What happened in 2013 is only going to make EJ Manuel a stronger, better quarterback.

Break a branch or two, and a tree suffers a temporary setback, but in the long run it grows back stronger than before.

You should change your name to BillsImprobable

[Goobylal]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

The team (not EJ alone) would have won at least 8. The Browns, Chefs, and both Dols games. They should have won the Altanta game and arguably the first Pats game.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

0, the ones the they did win with him were in spite of how He played.

[The Popcorn]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

I'm a fan of Manuel and think he will do better than his first year. I don't get into the could of, would of, should of because none of us know what the outcome would be had he stayed healthy.

[YardRat]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

Nineteen.

[feldspar]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

How many games did "Mark Sanchez" win in his first two years? What did they call him again? Oh yeah, Sanchize...I never called him that, of course.

[JoeMama]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

I think this question answers the biggest question of them all. (Do the Bills have a franchise QB in EJ Manuel?)

If EJ Manuel never got injured in the preseason, his notorious injury against the Browns on Thursday Night never happened and he started all 16 games in 2013, what would the Bills record have been, realistically?

I think the conference games against the Browns, Bengals, and Chiefs would have been wins with a fully healthy EJ Manuel.

9-7 ? That's playoff material.

9-7 is a very good record for a rookie NFL quarterback, playing under a rookie head coach and an entirely new system.

Manuel missed a lot of time last year. From preseason to the regular season, EJ was plagued with injuries.

Take away those injuries, and extrapolate.

People can't expect a rookie QB to perform at his best after having surgery on his knee, injuring his other knee, and then injuring the same knee he had surgery on all in the same season.

I can't even perform my best at work if I have a cold.

What happened in 2013 is only going to make EJ Manuel a stronger, better quarterback.

Break a branch or two, and a tree suffers a temporary setback, but in the long run it grows back stronger than before.

When it takes three disclaimers to sound optimistic with regard to a player's knee (shattered three times in about 3&1/2 months.)

BTW I don't like your tree analogy. Pruning branches and leaves has noting to do with EJ's medical clearance to play.

That was his rep at FSU too. A big game player who was dogged by nagging injuries all round.

So we know he has something good to know us. But you gotta be on the field to do that, and getting on the field (and remaining) is going to be EJ's greatest enemy this seasom.

[Goobylal]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

EJ's knee was "shattered three times"? Can he walk?

[JoeMama]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

EJ's knee was "shattered three times"? Can he walk?

How many guys have injured the same knee three times in one season and gone on to have a good career?

That's not me being down on EJ.

That's me acknowledging that physically he's probably not capable of handling the rigors of the NFL.

Example, look at Daunte Culpepper after he busted his knee twice?

Done.

And understand, I don't lay the "injury prone" label on guys unfairly.

I defended Eric Wood through years 1, 2, and 3, under the pretense they were all freak injuries.

And he ended up being just fine this season.

Nagging, re-occurring injuries are one thing. Freak injuries are another. But EJ's thrice injured knee is the kind of red flag where you start planning for his replacement ASAP.

It might hurt his feelings but you gotta do it.

[JoeMama]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

BTW we won't put together a contingency plan for EJ.

We're the Bills.

[Goobylal]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

How many guys have injured the same knee three times in one season and gone on to have a good career?

That's not me being down on EJ.

That's me acknowledging that physically he's probably not capable of handling the rigors of the NFL.

Example, look at Daunte Culpepper after he busted his knee twice?

Done.

And understand, I don't lay the "injury prone" label on guys unfairly.

I defended Eric Wood through years 1, 2, and 3, under the pretense they were all freak injuries.

And he ended up being just fine this season.

Nagging, re-occurring injuries are one thing. Freak injuries are another. But EJ's thrice injured knee is the kind of red flag where you start planning for his replacement ASAP.

It might hurt his feelings but you gotta do it.

It wasn't the same knee three times. The first time (in pre-season) it was the left knee. The second time (Browns game) was the right knee and was suffered after taking a helmet to it. The last one was the left knee again. The right knee isn't so concerning because it was a nasty shot. The left knee however seemed to get injured without much contact. Does it mean he's injury-prone? Not in the least but it does bear watching. And the contingency plan is Lewis.

[BuffaloRedleg]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

This is like asking how many games would Trent Edwards won if he had more balls.

You can't remove the balls from the equation, just like you can't remove the injuries from the equation either.

Yep.

[Goobylal]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

This is like asking how many games would Trent Edwards won if he had more balls.

You can't remove the balls from the equation, just like you can't remove the injuries from the equation either.

Yep.

Except that the major injury was self-inflicted of sorts, when EJ decided to stay in bounds rather than go out of bounds. And an injury can happen any time; having no balls is an all-the-time thing.

[JoeMama]

Re: A Healthy EJ Manuel In 2013 Would Have Won How Many Games?

It wasn't the same knee three times. The first time (in pre-season) it was the left knee. The second time (Browns game) was the right knee and was suffered after taking a helmet to it. The last one was the left knee again. The right knee isn't so concerning because it was a nasty shot. The left knee however seemed to get injured without much contact. Does it mean he's injury-prone? Not in the least but it does bear watching. And the contingency plan is Lewis.

I just read through some old articles, you're right.

Injury #1 torn miniscus left knee
Injury #2 sprained right knee
Injury #3 sprained LCL left knee

Still, that's a bad pattern regardless.

The law of nature is, it's harder to stay healthy as you grow older. If he's dinged up every other month his rookie season, realistically what's his life expectancy in the NFL?

Plus, he had nagging episodes like these dating back to FSU. My family are FSU fans so I've stomached a lot more of EJ Manuel than most people.

He's highly motivated with a good work ethic and a good head on his shoulders. He shows flashes of poise and good decision-making at times. There's a lot to like. But I still insist his biggest obstacle will be his own health. Nothing mental.