Is EJ Manuel Better Than We Think He Is?

[alohabillsfan]

I'm in the camp not ready to give up on EJ, with that said I'm also not all in and would draft another anywhere from round 3 or 4. I would target just about any of the sec qb's coming out including metzenberger, Murray, Or shaw.

[WagonCircler]

Age didn't agree with your choice but to me even now


is still hot at 55.

I think Joan hits for the other team, Brother. But she definitely did age better that Debbie.

[swiper]

Says the person who brought up that collection of QB's. Unfortunately you don't have the mental capacity to see why you look like a ****** for doing so.

No. Each of those QBs has is better than EJ Manuel if he were playing at his "ceiling."

[Goobylal]

No. Each of those QBs has is better than EJ Manuel if he were playing at his "ceiling."

So EJ has reached his ceiling? And Alex Smith didn't take 5 seasons to reach his, which is game manager? Schaub's last season wasn't worse than EJ's and he might be done? Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Moore are as fragile as you think EJ is and both had half a season in their 8/9 year careers where you could say they played well?

[swiper]

So EJ has reached his ceiling? And Alex Smith didn't take 5 seasons to reach his, which is game manager? Schaub's last season wasn't worse than EJ's and he might be done? Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Moore are as fragile as you think EJ is and both had half a season in their 8/9 year careers where you could say they played well?

Yes you are wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Alex Smith had the 3rd highest QB rating in 2012. Schaub was the league's leading passer in 2009. He threw for 4008 yards and a 91 rating in 2012. Matt Moore blew Ryan Fitzpatrick out of the water in 2011 putting up 2500 yards in only 13 games with an 87 rating. Stop being a tool.

[Goobylal]

Yes you are wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Alex Smith had the 3rd highest QB rating in 2012. Schaub was the league's leading passer in 2009. He threw for 4008 yards and a 91 rating in 2012. Matt Moore blew Ryan Fitzpatrick out of the water in 2011 putting up 2500 yards in only 13 games with an 87 rating. Stop being a tool.

Yeah, Matt Moore and Tarvaris Jackson are great. After 8 and 9 years in the league respectively, they're still proven backup quality QB's (like Fitz). Genius. As for Schaub, his season last year was horrible and he looks like he's done, i.e. no more hitting his "ceiling." And Alex Smith still took 5 years to become a game manager. You're ready to give up on EJ after 10 games and are essentially claiming he's at his "ceiling." Hate to break it to you but it's 2014, not 2012 or 2009. You sound like a jilted schoolgirl.

[Mike]

SOme of you guys are amazing. If we were talking Geno Smith, would you still be making the same argument? Probably not.

And what about a guy like Russell Wilson?
Many of the homers downplay his achievements and skill yet give EJ the benefit of the doubt ?#@%

So, lets at least have a semblance of a framework and some intellectual honesty. If one season is not enough to judge, than it is not enough time to judge anyone; and anyone is everyone from Luck and Newton to Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russel (sp).

So please make coherent and consistent argument.

[Mike]

Regarding EJ from watching him -and in my opinion it can take 10min to see if a QB has 'it'- I don't think EJ will ever becomes an Elite QB in the NFL. He wont be Brees, or Brady or Manning good. He won't be Rogers, Luck, Wilson good.

I don't even think he will be second tier good: Rivers, Eli, Big Ben, Keap, Matt Ryan, etc...

[better days]

SOme of you guys are amazing. If we were talking Geno Smith, would you still be making the same argument? Probably not.

And what about a guy like Russell Wilson?
Many of the homers downplay his achievements and skill yet give EJ the benefit of the doubt ?#@%

So, lets at least have a semblance of a framework and some intellectual honesty. If one season is not enough to judge, than it is not enough time to judge anyone; and anyone is everyone from Luck and Newton to Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russel (sp).

So please make coherent and consistent argument.

I would agree one year is not enough time to judge any QB.

JP & Trent both had moments early on where they looked great.

EJ could follow the same path as those two, or he could be a franchise QB, only time will tell.

[JoeMama]

The first hurdle EJ has to jump is to show he can stay healthy.

He has gimpy knees and shouldn't take unnecessary hits that will relegate him to the sideline for 40% of the season.

The second obstacle is his downfield accuracy. He should be on the practice field night and day doing drills to improve his placement this offseason. We need better touch on the deep ball from him.

Other than that, he shows relatively good pocket presence, barring a few games where the o-line just completely mailed it in late in the season (IE Tampa). He spreads the ball around well. He has pretty good poise. I like his leadership. I think he's a cerebral QB who's smart enough to patch up his game.

There's stuff to like about EJ, but he's got to beat the rep that he's a tin man who can't hit the broad side of a barn beyond 20 yards.

[chris66]

58.8% completion percentage as a rookie in 2013.

11 TD's and 9 Int's in 10 games played.

A 4-6 starting record that could easily be 5-5 if Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler didn't fumble in Toronto.

In his first ever game as a professional football player, EJ Manuel completed 18 out of 27 attempts for a 66.7% completion percentage, 2 TD's and 0 picks against the New England Patriots in a 21-23 loss.

In his second game as a pro, coming off a hard loss EJ Manuel played great against a very good Carolina Panthers team, completing 27 out of 39 attempts for 296 yards and had a 69.2% completion percentage in his first win as a pro.

Not bad, kid.

In his third game as a starting professional quarterback in the NFL, EJ Manuel played his second worst game of the season in his first road game in New York with a 45.2% completion percentage, but threw for 243 yards, had 1 TD, and 0 picks against a very good Jets defense in a close 20-27 loss.

In EJ Manuel's fourth game, he once again did not play well at all, but the Bills somehow won the game against the Ravens in the clutch.

And then came Cleveland. Let's just skip over that one and move on 1 month and 1 week later...

In his sixth game starting in the National Football League, coming off another injury to his knee, EJ Manuel went 22/39 for 155 yards, threw 1 TD and 1 Int in Pittsburgh playing on sand and mud.

In his 7th game as a rookie quarterback, EJ Manuel had his best game of the season against the New York Jets hitting on 20 out of 28 attempts, for 245 yards, 2 TD's and 0 picks, crushing the Jets 37-14.

In his 8th game, EJ Manuel didn't play great, threw for 210 yards, 1 TD, 0 picks and his stats would have looked a hell of a lot better if Chandler or Johnson weren't eating Canadian Butterfingers.

In Manuel's 9th game, the Bills got smoked in Tampa. It was the only game he played in all season that wasn't close. Every other game he played in was close.

In the last game of his rookie season against Jacksonville, EJ Manuel was 17 of 24 for his second highest completion percentage of the season (70.8%) threw 2 TD's and 1 pick in a win.

10 games total, 3 knee injuries, and 3 months after the season ended I'm starting to think EJ Manuel is going to be the franchise quarterback the Bills have been looking for.

Not enough games. Remember fitz always started off hot for 3-4 games till teams got film on him.

[Goobylal]

Not enough games. Remember fitz always started off hot for 3-4 games till teams got film on him.

Fitz problem was that he had no arm strength. You can't teach that.

[chris66]

Fitz problem was that he had no arm strength. You can't teach that.

Plenty of bad QB's have arm strength. what you cant teach is football iq

[kishoph]

Regarding EJ from watching him -and in my opinion it can take 10min to see if a QB has 'it'- I don't think EJ will ever becomes an Elite QB in the NFL. He wont be Brees, or Brady or Manning good. He won't be Rogers, Luck, Wilson good.

I'd bet that's what the Atlanta Falcons thought when the got rid of Brett Favre, or when Tampa got rid of Steve Young, or when Green Bay got rid of Kurt Warner. That's 3 off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more that took more than 10 minutes (or 10 games) to show what they were capable of.

[Goobylal]

Plenty of bad QB's have arm strength. what you cant teach is football iq

True. But while having arm strength won't make you a good QB, not having it most certainly will make you a bad one.

[GvilleBills]

True. But while having arm strength won't make you a good QB, not having it most certainly will make you a bad one.

I don't consider Chad Pennington a bad QB, but I do think his career is Manuel's ceiling as of now.

Personally, 10 games is too soon to make a distinction. But Manuel's shortcomings are the same ones he's had for 4 years. He has not shown improvement. Jimbo is an offensive mind and he couldn't get EJ to progress in 3 years. This isn't a division 3 coaching staff here...this is FSU.

He's had one year in the NFL so far, and an abridged one at that. He gets next year. He's my QB, I'm rooting for him.
But to think this is some snap judgement for many of us is simply inaccurate.

[Mike]

Put it this way, when EJ was drafted many ofus went over to FSU boards and inquired about our 1st round pick.

What many of the knowledgable fans communicated was that EJ was a player that had great leadership and all the physical ability in the world and that translated well on the field most of the time which lead to him being 'frustrating' to watch. Moreover, some FSU fans eluded to how inconsistent and limited his production was and lastly how their freshman backup was better.

At this point, of course many on this site blasted poster on FSU boards for suggesting that a freshman QB was better than a 1st round pick! We'll those boys do know football and EJ better than many here as EJ proved to be every bit what he has been for last 4years all the while, a freshman QB went on to win Hiesman & BCS championship with the same damn team & coaches that previously held back our 1st round rookie QB.

If EJ stayed in college one more year, he would not even have been the best college QB this year. He would not be one if the top 3 QBs in this class. Heck, he would not even have been the best QB on his own team.

[Mike]

I'd bet that's what the Atlanta Falcons thought when the got rid of Brett Favre, or when Tampa got rid of Steve Young, or when Green Bay got rid of Kurt Warner. That's 3 off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more that took more than 10 minutes (or 10 games) to show what they were capable of.

Did you WATCH those guys play?

So your saying that you could not tell the difference in quality between Favre, Young, & Warner VS EJ in their first seasons as NFL starters?

[feldspar]

Did you WATCH those guys play?

So your saying that you could not tell the difference in quality between Favre, Young, & Warner VS EJ in their first seasons as NFL starters?

As a rookie, Favre's first pass was intercepted for a touchdown. He threw 4 passes his rookie year, and he completed two of them...to the OTHER TEAM. Did not complete a single pass.

Young had USFL experience before going to Tampa Bay, where he really did kinda suck.

Favre and Young were STILL traded for value though. Green Bay gave a first rounder to Atlanta for Favre, and the 49ers gave Tampa a 2nd and 4th for Young.

Warner was a lot different. He went undrafted, and then Green Bay brought him in. He didn't even make the team. Don't think he was ready yet. The first year he actually played, Warner was like 28, won the Super Bowl, and was league MVP. Pretty amazing story.

Dunno why I'm talking like this. If anybody wants to bring up examples of QBs, there are tons more QBs that never panned out than the other way around. Everybody has their own story.

[gebobs]

As a rookie, Favre's first pass was intercepted for a touchdown. He threw 4 passes his rookie year, and he completed two of them...to the OTHER TEAM. Did not complete a single pass.

Young had USFL experience before going to Tampa Bay, where he really did kinda suck.

Favre and Young were STILL traded for value though. Green Bay gave a first rounder to Atlanta for Favre, and the 49ers gave Tampa a 2nd and 4th for Young.

Warner was a lot different. He went undrafted, and then Green Bay brought him in. He didn't even make the team. Don't think he was ready yet. The first year he actually played, Warner was like 28, won the Super Bowl, and was league MVP. Pretty amazing story.

Dunno why I'm talking like this. If anybody wants to bring up examples of QBs, there are tons more QBs that never panned out than the other way around. Everybody has their own story.

So why bring up the few anomalies that sucked early and then went on to be great or even pretty good?