Expect To See A Lot Of EJ Manuel In The Preseason

[BillsImpossible]

5 preseason games. What to do with EJ?

He needs the practice.

Three years ago, Bill Belichick had Tom Brady playing in the 3rd and 4th quarters of a preseason game.

What will the Bills do?

Play it safe and give him glass slippers, or let EJ play however long he wants to?

http://www.huliq.com/5582/tom-brady-...preseason-game

The Patriots first team offense has played a good amount this preseason and in week three Brady even played into the fourth quarter. The third week of the preseason is usually a dress rehearsal for the regular season as many starters don't play the final week. Still, to see a prominent quarterback play all the way into the fourth quarter shows you the determination Brady has to get all his starters on the same page.

[Turf]

The Bills are making a big mistake coddling him. They could have easily brought in a good rookie or veteran to challenge him. They're just giving him the job. He needs to be pushed and he's not. The short sightedness of Whaley and Marrone is making me lose faith in them, by putting all of their eggs in one basket with no credible backup plan.

[BillsImpossible]

The Bills are making a big mistake coddling him. They could have easily brought in a good rookie or veteran to challenge him. They're just giving him the job. He needs to be pushed and he's not. The short sightedness of Whaley and Marrone is making me lose faith in them, by putting all of their eggs in one basket with no credible backup plan.

I would agree if there was a free agent quarterback out there worthy of signing. Michael Vick was their, "best," option.

Thad Lewis played well last year.

The Bills signed Kevin Kolb to challenge EJ, and that didn't work out so well.

[The Jokeman]

The Bills are making a big mistake coddling him. They could have easily brought in a good rookie or veteran to challenge him. They're just giving him the job. He needs to be pushed and he's not. The short sightedness of Whaley and Marrone is making me lose faith in them, by putting all of their eggs in one basket with no credible backup plan.

Did the Colts have a backup plan in play when they had Peyton Manning? or the Andrew Luck? What about the Falcons and Matt Ryan? or the Lions and Matt Stafford? Personally I have no issues handing EJ the keys and see where he can take us. I've stated it numerous times but the first word in the term for franchise QB is franchise. I mean we went 4-6 under EJ last year, have we forgotten that Kelly was 4-12 his first season here? and that was after he had 2 years to develop in the USFL.

[Albany,n.y.]

Lets hope the Bills don't need to play EJ much. I remember one preseason where JP Losman was so bad they kept him in in hopes that he'd get better-he didn't.

[POTLAND PSILBYLO]

I would agree if there was a free agent quarterback out there worthy of signing. Michael Vick was their, "best," option.

Thad Lewis played well last year.

The Bills signed Kevin Kolb to challenge EJ, and that didn't work out so well.

Sure it did. Kolb got hurt, then so did EJ. Challenge met.

[Fletch]

5 preseason games. What to do with EJ?

He needs the practice.

Three years ago, Bill Belichick had Tom Brady playing in the 3rd and 4th quarters of a preseason game.

What will the Bills do?

Play it safe and give him glass slippers, or let EJ play however long he wants to?

http://www.huliq.com/5582/tom-brady-...preseason-game

The Patriots first team offense has played a good amount this preseason and in week three Brady even played into the fourth quarter. The third week of the preseason is usually a dress rehearsal for the regular season as many starters don't play the final week. Still, to see a prominent quarterback play all the way into the fourth quarter shows you the determination Brady has to get all his starters on the same page.

Come on, what do you think that they're going to do? The Bills brass is a monkey-see monkey-do set. They'll see everyone else pulling their QBs for their last games and they think that they need to do the same when it makes zero sense as you say. When this front office starts doing the things that they should then someone run a flag up the pole to let us all know.

They'll think that they have to protect KneeJ from injury and play him as little as possible. The time to have thought about that was prior to reaching in the 1st to get him and his injury issues and the same issues that plagued him in college that are plaguing him now, not after the fact as the risks that they took, presumably without even looking into his background completely and ignoring them otherwise, are playing out.

If I were them I'd play him until he showed me 4 good Quarters of ball in the same game. If that means playing 20 preseason quarters, so be it. It'll be a miracle of if he plays 10 of them.

[Fletch]

I would agree if there was a free agent quarterback out there worthy of signing. Michael Vick was their, "best," option.

Thad Lewis played well last year.

The Bills signed Kevin Kolb to challenge EJ, and that didn't work out so well.

This is a result of poor overall planning. You don't just look at one season and say "there was no one available." We haven't had good backups or starters in years. We haven't had a good starter since Bledsoe and even there we can argue over how good he was and whether or not he qualifies. I can't even remember when we last had a good backup. Actually I'd argue Lewis, some would take issue with that, but either way before him who?

No dearth of talent on the roster ever boils down exclusively to a single season. Before the season began everyone went gaga over how some site rated our LBs as one of the best units in the league. We lost one player, one, and now all of a sudden we've dropped what, 20 spots? Really? It couldn't have been all that great as a unit if one guy meant that much. On top of that we don't have a single LB that's capable of starting while providing above average play against the pass now.

That is poor planning, not simply bad luck.

[kishoph]

Come on, what do you think that they're going to do? The Bills brass is a monkey-see monkey-do set. They'll see everyone else pulling their QBs for their last games and they think that they need to do the same when it makes zero sense as you say. When this front office starts doing the things that they should then someone run a flag up the pole to let us all know.

If "everyone else is pulling their QBs for their last games" wouldn't you think that pulling him might be the right thing to do ? Or is everyone else wrong and you're right ? Of course if they didn't pull him out and he got hurt you would be *****ing about that. Once again your hate for the team clouds any reasonable thought you might have. If you ever have a post that isn't cynical, I'll run a flag up the pole to let everyone know.

[Fletch]

It's funny, everyone discounts Stevie, but he's the only player in Bills history to put three 1,000-yard seasons back to back to back, and he didn't have Kelly or Bledsoe throwing to him, he had Fitzpatrick throwing to him, a QB that can't even hold down a starting job.

Again, I think that it would have been wise to keep him instead of Williams this season and let him walk after it while Watkins and Woods had another season to develop, in Watkins' case his first as a rookie. To me that would have made a ton more sense and been valuable to Manuel as well.

Now they're stuck forcing Woods into the leading role hoping that Watkins develops, and I don't mean against DBs named Mario Butler, Michael Carter, and Ross Cockrell, and hoping, now seemingly against hope, that Mike Williams turns into an asset as a starter.

It's also funny how it's negative to talk about a player that was on the team last year as being good. Especially given this front office's record of "perfection."

[Fletch]

If "everyone else is pulling their QBs for their last games" wouldn't you think that pulling him might be the right thing to do ? Or is everyone else wrong and you're right ? Of course if they didn't pull him out and he got hurt you would be *****ing about that. Once again your hate for the team clouds any reasonable thought you might have. If you ever have a post that isn't cynical, I'll run a flag up the pole to let everyone know.

What do you think? Try to answer your own question.

If you have Tom Brady do you think he needs the reps? How about Rodgers, Newton, either Manning, etc.

Is this a rocket science question?

I don't hate at all, rather you let your hate get in the way of simple logic.

Until Manuel demonstrates that he can put a few quarters of good solid football back to back, I don't think they should take him out at all. If he's going to get injured it's going to happen at one point or another. That would be another issue altogether and would suggest that the risk that they took knowing his potential for injury hasn't come out on the the winning guess. What's more important is good peformance throughout the season to the point that we can win games.

I realize that in your hatred you can't see that.

But what good is it if he enters the season playing inconsistently and unable to string more than one or two quarters of good football together, often not even that playing erratically all game long?

If you cannot connect those two very simple dots, then I don't even know what to say anymore.

Seriously? You're treating Manuel like the other playoff QBs from last season? Go join the front office, they need you, you'll blend right in.

[Fletch]

Put another way kishoph, what would we be "saving him" for if he sucks during the preseason?

What, more suckitude during the regular season?

If hating means being dissatisfied with siht QB performance during the season, and QB performance so bad that we don't even have a remote shot at the playoffs, then by that definition, yeah, I guess I hate it. I wouldn't at all be bothered in taking such a stance.

Apparently you don't care and would rather make sure that we to whatever we can to see it happen.

[The Jokeman]

It's funny, everyone discounts Stevie, but he's the only player in Bills history to put three 1,000-yard seasons back to back to back, and he didn't have Kelly or Bledsoe throwing to him, he had Fitzpatrick throwing to him, a QB that can't even hold down a starting job.

Again, I think that it would have been wise to keep him instead of Williams this season and let him walk after it while Watkins and Woods had another season to develop, in Watkins' case his first as a rookie. To me that would have made a ton more sense and been valuable to Manuel as well.

Now they're stuck forcing Woods into the leading role hoping that Watkins develops, and I don't mean against DBs named Mario Butler, Michael Carter, and Ross Cockrell, and hoping, now seemingly against hope, that Mike Williams turns into an asset as a starter.

It's also funny how it's negative to talk about a player that was on the team last year as being good. Especially given this front office's record of "perfection."

I agree Stevie's loss is bigger than some are making out. Yet one would hope Mike Williams can step in and be a reliable target on the outside and prior to last year's injured filled season he did produce sollid #2 WR numbers in Tampa.

[Fletch]

I agree Stevie's loss is bigger than some are making out. Yet one would hope Mike Williams can step in and be a reliable target on the outside and prior to last year's injured filled season he did produce sollid #2 WR numbers in Tampa.

True, but he also had a relatively well playing Josh Freeman throwing to him too. Freeman may have lost his job, but he still averaged over 22 TDs/season, that's far from where Manuel is. In the only two notable seasons that you reference Freeman threw for 25 and 27 TDs. I don't see that happening here with Manuel.

Also, to date we haven't heard a single positive thing on Williams and it wasn't like the draft pick that we traded was so valuable that they'd hesitate to cut him if he wasn't working out. There's lots of speculation outside of Buffalo that that's what is likely to happen.

Like you said, we can hope. My point was that we can hope regarding the WRs, but we're talking about Manuel here. If he sucks then it won't matter. They need to play him until he can prove that he's worth keeping as a starter. "Saving him" while he sucks is not a good idea. What would we be saving as kishoph suggests would be a smart thing to do. Seems to me that would be the equivalent of throwing in the towel and saying to ourselves, oh well, it looks like mediocrity on a good day is all we're ever going to get from Manuel, so let's make sure that we get that from him on a regular basis and keep him out of preseason games so that he won't get hurt. That kind of thinking isn't going to get this team to a winning record much less the playoffs.

He needs reps until he's become the kind of QB that can win games. If he never becomes that, then why would it matter if he got injured? We'd immediately be in the market for a new QB and Thad Lewis can start and provide at least what Manuel does if it's only mediocrity, again, on a good day. I'm not even convinced that Lewis isn't the better QB. Not saying that he is, just saying that I'm not convinced that he isn't.

Either way, the smart thing for developing QBs is not to take away one of their safety blankets and their best proven option.

[Bill Cody]

The Bills are making a big mistake coddling him. They could have easily brought in a good rookie or veteran to challenge him. They're just giving him the job. He needs to be pushed and he's not. The short sightedness of Whaley and Marrone is making me lose faith in them, by putting all of their eggs in one basket with no credible backup plan.

Odds are low that some free agent retread or late round rookie would pose a serious challenge. If it did it's over anyway because it means Manuel sucks. Nah, just relax and deal with the fact that we're all in on Manuel. It's pretty much a stone cold lock that he gets 2 more years and if he fails the entire organization will go with him. Finding a winning QB isn't like buying a head of lettuce at the market. It's really really hard but really really essential. That's why it's hard for me to understand why there's some on this board that seem invested in Manuel's failure. To me it's still a coin flip, could go either way.

[stuckincincy]

Odds are low that some free agent retread or late round rookie would pose a serious challenge. If it did it's over anyway because it means Manuel sucks. Nah, just relax and deal with the fact that we're all in on Manuel. It's pretty much a stone cold lock that he gets 2 more years and if he fails the entire organization will go with him. Finding a winning QB isn't like buying a head of lettuce at the market. It's really really hard but really really essential. That's why it's hard for me to understand why there's some on this board that seem invested in Manuel's failure. To me it's still a coin flip, could go either way.

The Bills know how to shop for lettuce($)...a mere handful of blackouts since the SB years. I don't think that it's folks invested in Manuel's failure, but that management hasn't been able to meaningfully nail down the QB spot since Kelly hung up the cleats.

So there is skepticism.

[Bill Cody]

The Bills know how to shop for lettuce($)...a mere handful of blackouts since the SB years. I don't think that it's folks invested in Manuel's failure, but that management hasn't been able to meaningfully nail down the QB spot since Kelly hung up the cleats.

So there is skepticism.

skepticism I get but there are definitely posters that go out of their way to trash Manuel and have completely given up on him. And yes they are invested in being right on that for whatever reason.

[stuckincincy]

skepticism I get but there are definitely posters that go out of their way to trash Manuel and have completely given up on him. And yes they are invested in being right on that for whatever reason.

Yes, that is so. But those folks are a small number. Most hope for the best.

[Bill Cody]

True, but he also had a relatively well playing Josh Freeman throwing to him too. Freeman may have lost his job, but he still averaged over 22 TDs/season, that's far from where Manuel is. In the only two notable seasons that you reference Freeman threw for 25 and 27 TDs. I don't see that happening here with Manuel.

Manuel can be better than Freeman. He has to put the work in to do it but it's possible. Freeman was not willing to work hard enough and that's why he was cut in Tampa.

Either way, the smart thing for developing QBs is not to take away one of their safety blankets and their best proven option.

Stevie would not have reacted well to what was clearly going to be a reduced role with the Bills, the man had an ego. And you can't really be a safety blanket if when you really really need a catch from a guy he drops the ball. That was Stevie. He was a good not great player but it was time to move on for him and the team. But losing him does increase the need for Manuel to get as many reps as possible with all the receivers.

[Fletch]

The Bills know how to shop for lettuce($)...a mere handful of blackouts since the SB years. I don't think that it's folks invested in Manuel's failure, but that management hasn't been able to meaningfully nail down the QB spot since Kelly hung up the cleats.

So there is skepticism.

Not just that, but it's not like they take a QB like Luck who's got all the hallmarks. Yes, I realize he wasn't an option, but the point is that if they'd taken Manuel in round 2 then there wouldn't be as much heat or as much invested. They reached to get him in round one.

Like I said before in another thread, how bad this team is never comes down to one season and who was or wasn't a free agent or who the draft prospects were. A good GM takes a look at what he has and then begins to build around that.

Here we seem to haphazardly draft players and pick up guys in free agency based either on coaches that don't know what they're doing or front office people acting like they're about to get laid for the first time.