2003Contenders

The way things are headed he may very well go undrafted.

In life there are certain traits that people have that may make them successful in one arena -- but unsuccessful elsewhere. In athletics it may not necessarily be physical talent -- but some special motivating factor that allows a professional athlete to excel at his preferred sport -- but fail elsewhere in life. Michael Jordan and Pete Rose are two obvious examples as their off-the-charts competitiveness made them so great at their respective sports but also hindered them in life afterwards. In the NFL, Thurman Thomas and Tom Brady are two good examples of guys who were under-appreciated coming into the league, and used that under-appreciation as an extreme chip on their shoulder to excel and defy odds. Flutie was like that too. Under-sized, mediocre arm -- but an enormous chip on his shoulder that he carries to this day. I think the fact that he was 5'9" and 175 lbs made him seem like an every-man to the masses. He was an easy guy to root for in those regards, compared to Rob Johnson, who had that prototypical NFL QB physique -- but was completely out-of-touch. Because Flutie always felt under-appreciated and underestimated, he used that to his advantage to motivate himself. At the end of the day, this turned more into paranoia than anything else -- as he devolved into being a bad teammate: Taking full credit for 13-10 style victories and imposing a You-are-either-for-me-or-against-me atmosphere in the locker room regarding the QB rivalry. It was a shame, really.

What are people going to do when Boobie and Tanner are active this week -- and Brown is still inactive?

Yea, I don't understand why anyone would root against EJ. Those who do simply must be tools who were opposed to the Bills drafting him in the first place and want to be "right". EJ seems like a stand-up guy -- and has handled the demotion as well as anyone could hope. I have made it a point to watch him on the sidelines, and he is clearly doing his best to be involved -- was clearly enthusiastic about the offense completing the winning drive on Sunday. Obviously the right QB is starting right now. It takes some players longer than others to develop -- especially at the most crucial position. Coming out of college, Manuel had all the physical tools and the right mental make-up (intelligence, confidence, character) -- but he played in a remedial offense for Fisher at FSU. For that reason, he was the definition of a developmental QB. History has shown us that the more polished QBs coming out of college (think Manning and Luck) are the ones that are best-served playing right away, taking their lumps on the field and learning as they go. The college QBs who didn't play in pro style offenses tend to take longer to develop, provided they have the right skill set and mental make-up (think Rodgers, Romo and Alex Smith). I have heard in many places that accuracy is something that you either have or do not have. If that is the case, then EJ may never be what the Bills hoped he would be when they drafted him in the first round last year. However, most of his problems (from what I have seen) have been mechanically-related, and I hope that additional seasoning will help him progress. If the offensive line doesn't improve, we may see E.J. Manuel again sooner than we think... :-(

The problems with the offense are multifaceted. 1. In Hackett's defense, I suspect that a good portion of the playbook has been whittled down, first due to EJ's inexperience and then due to the fact that Orton arrived a mere week before the season started. I also believe that if the passing game starts to ignite that defenses will be less inclined to crowd the box. 2. Spiller does not do enough things well to get the number of carries that many of his fans long for. He is a liability in pass protection, doesn't have great vision and situationally unaware way too often. His football IQ is severely lacking. With that said, he IS very talented -- and can score from anywhere on the field. Teams must game plan for him -- the problem is that he is easy to game plan for. I wonder what Bryce Brown is lacking that keeps him inactive every week.

Bingo! I think man-for-man that the Bills have an overall more talented roster. With Bellichick and Brady the Patriots have two guys who are smart, talented, and obsessed with out-working their opponent. They spend countless hours dissecting the opponent's strengths and weaknesses -- and then figure out how to eliminate that strength and highlight the weakness. Note that Watkins was a non-factor mostly and that Duke Williams was picked on early and often. Meanwhile, we have an OC obsessed with running the same play over and over again that never works and illustrates the shortcomings of our offense. Bill B and his coaches are also masters at halftime adjustments. The Bills' coaches, meanwhile, have done a poor job of making counter-adjustments.

I will be anxious to see the All-22 this week to discover what the Patriots did (or the Bills didn't do) that gave Brady so much time in the 2nd half. The defensive line had him befuddled in the first half, but allowed him to get very comfortable in the 2nd. The lack of pressure (plus the absence of A. Williams) played a role in the secondary breakdowns. I wonder of D. Williams is this year's version of J. Rogers?

Bill, we gotta make this look right. So we will call several meaningless penalties against your team -- but an approximately equal number of back-breaking penalties against the Bills. That way all the "impartial experts" can say we were fair. Is that OK with you?

Were the Bills sold on EJ as a franchise QB? Absolutely not. If they had been, they would have drafted him with the #8 pick and not made the risk the trade down. Where I think the front office failed -- and in this case I blame Nix, as it was obvious in his pre-draft quotes -- is that the Bills seemed bound-set-and-determined to draft a QB in the first round. The infamous Nix recording illustrates that the team had no illusions to the fact that the draft was a very weak one for QBs. In the final analysis, they took a gamble on EJ, believing that he had the intangibles to be the best QB in the very weak class. Thanks to the new CBA, if he never pans out, the misfire will not set the franchise back for years and years. The book isn't shut yet on Manuel either, IMHO.

Different guys develop at different rates. Aaron Rodgers is the modern poster child of the QB who needed 2-3 years to watch and learn. The caveat for his situation has always been "Yea, but he was playing behind Favre and had no chance of seeing the field anyway." True. But I also remember playing against the Packers in the preseason in 2006 and thinking how much better off we were with Losman than if we had not made the deal to trade up in 2004 and had waited until 2005 to draft Rodgers instead. Doh! I like EJ's mind-set and hope that he is preparing himself as if he is the starter. You never know, especially with our offensive line. Manuel could be rushed back into the starting role at any time.

I honestly didn't question the decision to punt at the time, and I do not question it now -- especially the way the defense had been playing through the first 2 games.

I agree with those citing the 3rd and 1 followed by the 4th down play. That whole sequence was a colossal mess: When it was 3rd and a short 1, Marrone should have made it clear THEN whether or not this was 4-down territory. Perhaps better play-selection would have been in order. How about a play-action pass on 3rd and short -- followed by a QB sneak or Summers/Dixon run if the 3rd down play was unsuccessful. Running CJ in that situation had to be the most bone-headed call imaginable. It created a 4th and 4 situation -- which we all knew EJ was not going to convert.

Excellent and balanced observation. I am also surprised that no one is talking more about the pass on which Goodwin almost got killed. You could see the regret on EJ's face after the play. A few minutes later in the game Watkins admittedly alligator-armed a pass for fear of getting knocked out. If this keeps up, there may be a revolt in the locker room.

Yep -- and the outside receiver was clearly blocking Gilmore before the pass was completed to Royal on the first San Diego TD. That one was blatant and should have been an OPI call as well.

I think this was a classic crash and burn situation. The team was so high last week: the home opener, the team sale, Jim Kelly's good news, the big win over Miami, etc. The team just looked very flat today. 1. The game was lost in the trenches. The OL struggled from the very beginning. EJ was never able to get comfortable. I think he has all the God-given skills and talent that you would want from a QB, but he just doesn't look natural back there. I am not sure if that will come with more experience. On days like this he needs to step up. 2. The LB corps was exposed a bit today. Rivers kept throwing those quick underneath throws, identifying the mismatches.

Carey, the former official now working for CBS, talked about that. He said the ball came out just as it hit the pylon, and it was hard to tell whether or not it was starting to come out before. Thus, it was correct to stick with the call that was made on the field.

Part of me just has trouble believing that the NFL was trying to hide anything in this situation. After all, they had to know that this video would be available to the public at some point, right? It is not as if their copy of the video was the only one in existence. I may be grasping at straws, but I wonder if the NFL did have the video and just never bothered to watch it. That is, suppose for a moment that Ray Rice admitted to everything and in so doing the NFL leadership saw no need to view the video, since Rice wasn't refuting any of the charges against him. They may have thought that no further investigation was necessary since he confessed to the deed. Of course, HEARING about the incident -- as bad as that narrative may be -- simply doesn't compare to actually SEEING the incident along with Rice's total disregard for the young lady after he knocked her out cold. Just a thought.

Did he say they wouldn't hesitate to make a change THIS week -- or early in the season (like, say, Week 3 or 4)? I bet he meant the latter.

Also, his ball-handling skills are superb -- even on hand-offs. I think he has all the God-given talent, intelligence and work ethic to be successful. He just has to refine those skills. The reality is that guys like Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck come around once in a blue moon -- but I bet if you look at the history of those guys you will observe that they were groomed from an early age to play the position. Even as FSU, E.J. did not play in a pro style offense, so he still has a larger learning curve to overcome. Hopefully he continues to progress -- and nuances of the position start to become more natural for him.

Boyd is also very good friends with EJ -- so could be a decent chemistry pickup as a QB3 or practice squad option.

As bad as our memory is of Mike Williams, this actually is not true. Big Mike was actually a pretty decent RT his rookie year, when he started from Day One. The big problem for him was conditioning and an inability to play through pain. He regressed badly in his second year -- and everything went downhill from there.

Tim Graham is reporting that Jim Kelly joined one of the 8 bidders -- but doesn't know which one.

With all due respect to Mr. Brady, he was NOT the key factor in the Bills' losses to the Pats last year. Better clock management in the first game, and the Bills win that one. The second game was all about the defense's inability to stop Blount.

Well, there are a couple of things to remember here: 1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just because many draftniks have Martin ranked as the 4th best OT in the draft, that does not mean that the Bills do. Where did E.J. rank among QBs according to these draftniks last year? Behind Nassib by most accounts. I would have to say that Marrone and Hackett probably had more insight into Nassib's prospects as an NFL QB than would the Mel Kipers of the world, for example. 2. Who is to say that the 4th best OT isn't worth a top ten pick? In last year's draft the top two picks were both OT -- and many observers feel that the top three OTs in this year's draft are better than those top two last year. He does seem to fit the mold of the sort of linemen that the Bills have drafted successfully over the last 3 or 4 years. His ceiling s not as high as that of the top 3 OTs -- but his floor may be higher than any of them other than Mathews. That is to say that he probably has a much less likley bust factor than either Robinson or Lewan. In fact, I could see the Bills shocking many by taking him even if Lewan is still on the board. I am not advocating taking Martin at the #9 pick. In fact, if the Bills really feel that he is the BPA at #9, I really hope they at least try to trade down, because I suspect they can still get him later in the round.

One crazy thought... There is a certain QB who threw all those passes to Mike Williams in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The same QB that the Bills seriously pursued last fall when EJ went down with the knee injury during the Browns game. The same QB who is still on the market and can be acquired for a league-minimum contract.