jeffismagic

Read your league rules. In most standard online leagues, grab a top 2 Defense a round early if no great talent is left. The defenses actually score a lot of points in many leagues and you can get great value by having a top defense.

Rex said when EJ had time to throw he was impressive. He's right, now let him play behind the new upgraded offensive line so we can see where he's at.

Buffalo News reporters will blow a gasket. I love it.

EJ also excels at play-action. He never got to do it last year in his short time because our coaches were awful.

No, that was not the issue I raised. Anti-EJ people have been saying , "EJ was really a third or 4th round pick." They were not saying opinions may vary. If that was the case, sure. You can say that about a lot of players. They were making a much stronger case than what you are describing which requires much stronger evidence that they never have provided. The most important team for me is the Bills. They believed that EJ was the best QB on their board AND that he would not be available much later. If you are saying the Bills don't have enough sense to know how to get value in the draft and drafted him 3 rounds before anyone else would, go ahead. Make that case.

That doesn't prove the point. Team draft boards are all over the place. This one you posted has Ryan Nassib and Matt Barkley as 2nd rounders! My point was that the anti-EJ people latch onto the strangest things. Was Kiko Alonso a 4th round pick? I am sure he was on some boards. Every player in the draft can only be remembered by where he was actually picked, with minor modifications. So teams that need quarterback (such as the Bills) will take that position HIGHER than teams like the Cowboys who don't. So EJ Manuel was definitely going to be drafted by a team somewhere in the late 1st. The Bills decided to get their guy. The Cowboys are also a terrible comparison. They have Tony Romo. For the QB position they might naturally favor higher floor/lower ceiling types. Nassib and Barkley were considered exactly that, good BACKUP quarterbacks on many team boards. BTW, you know who else is a 4th rounder on the Cowboys board that the Bills graded out as a 1st round talent? Kiko Alonso! This point about EJ being a mid-round pick would ONLY be valid if the Bills were the crazy team that had him where every other team had him low. You haven't demonstrated that. And until that is demonstrated you have to mention where he was drafted, not where you wish he was.

This idea that EJ should have been a mid-round pick is just revisionist history. He was the first QB drafted. At the time, there were other teams that had EJ as the number one QB on their board as well. Mike Mayock before the draft said he would take EJ Manuel because he had the highest upside. Was he drafted higher than he should have been in retrospect? That's an easy answer. But please stop reposting this fake idea that EJ was a third round or 4th round pick that the anti-EJ people just keep repeating. There is no basis to it. The Bills had good scouts at the time and they had on their NFL draft board EJ Manuel as the top quarterback. Unless you have 5 teams draft board that had EJ as a 4th rounder then this "fact" should stop.

Tyrod Taylor has that "it" factor. It also would be incredible if the Bills found their QB this way. Saints: Sign Drew Brees and take the chance on his arm working. Patriots: Draft Brady in the 6th round. Seahawks: Draft Wilson in the 3rd round. Bills: Find a QB that was drafted in the 6th round but went to free agency because his team has a very good player already that won a Superbowl at QB.

Great post and I would completely agree if this was EJ vs Cassel. If both are close you go with the guy with upside. But Tyrod Taylor could be good enough to not only get us to playoffs but win there. So I am an ABC (Anyone But Cassel) guy that wants to start TT first and if he gets injured Manuel starts next game.

Greg Gabriel weighs in on Tyrod Taylor. "I have not seen him make a poor throw in the first two games. While Taylor will never be mistaken for the likes of Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck, he can be similar to Michael Vick in his prime. If that happens, the Buffalo Bills may well be the surprise team of the AFC in 2015!..." http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/is-tyrod-taylor-the-answer-at-quarterback-for-the-buffalo-bills/

I can't talk myself into Cassel as the starter. He's a good backup, that's all. We need to win the first two games this year period. Start TT.

I can't do this until the QB is chosen. If it is Cassel we lose game 1.

This. Ultimately, it is Rex's call and he should listen to and receive input. He is the head coach, Roman is his assistant.

HGH keeps one young. I have no idea what Brady is doing but for anyone that followed his college career, his arm is DIFFERENT now. He was drafted in the 6th round for a reason and that was his terrible arm. Even in his first few years in the league, Brady never threw more than 15 yards. 5 years later and he is now throwing all over the field. Another Patriot miracle.

Rex defers to Roman to design the offense but he is the head coach. The buck stops with him. Rex will get input from Roman but the final call is his.

You can lead a team to the playoffs and not be a franchise QB. That is what I am saying. Andy Dalton is not a franchise QB but if TT leads us to the playoffs that is fine.

Cleveland Rocks, appreciate you checking in with us. On the Tyrod vision thing, it's hard to tell where his reads are and where he is supposed to look. One thing I do like is all the people asking if he could "do more than run around" are pretty silent now. We'll see what else happens next but so far so good. On Rex and Pettine. I couldn't tell if they decided to blitz that much together or if it became a game of one upmanship. I lean to coaches just wanting to evaluate their pass-rushers in a more realistic setting. I was laughing though because neither coach wanted even backups to score. Browns have some promising players, Shelton looks like a great pick. Good luck this year!

I don't think this question is fair. Why does he have to become a franchise QB? Of course that would be nice but the relevant question is can he lead us to the playoffs? Anything beyond that is wishful thinking until we see real games.

Have you been watching the pre-season? Your post seems like something preserved in amber from people that only watch the Bills QB go up against the Bills D in practice. It looks to me like any of these guys could get 9 wins. I do think Cassel is at best a decent backup. TT can get us to 11 wins. We have an offensive line now and real NFL playcalling on the offensive side of the ball. You are living in last year.

ABC. Anyone But Cassel. Cassel will get us to a 9-7 record as teams will crowd the LOS and our running game will suffer. EJ can hit deep passes but probably is still not quite ready. TT can hit a deep ball now and then and threaten a D with his ability to run while also moving the chains with quick passes to our skill players. TT right now but EJ is close.

I think the thing with EJ is that he suffered a lack of confidence. Everyone can see that. Some just say, well, that's how he is. I always thought he ended up playing that way because he was played too early with coaches that were clueless and terrible line play. The benching by Marrone last year after a game where the offensive line was awful only made things worse. But EJ's natural talent and new coaching has helped him start to get his groove on. EJ I feel is close. You can see how energized he was by that TD last night. I really hope this coaching staff keeps him at #2 in practice and even lets him run with the 1's for a bit. Why not let him play at least a quarter against the Steelers in the most important pre-season game? TT has the lead for me but EJ has been closing the gap.

EJ had the misfortune of being drafted by the Bills and having college coaches teaching him, the worst guard play in the NFL, and the worst playcalling in the NFL. He then got yanked after the Houston game where JJ Watt was hitting him before he could finish his dropback.

Agree. That Suh contract is probably hanging in Marcel's locker.

Some of us watch the offensive line play and WR's as well to judge the QB. As soon as he had 3 seconds to throw he started hitting passes.

Any franchise QB's in the 2016 draft? Trade him to a team looking at a top 3 pick?