Ron Jaworski's take on EJ (via Mike & Mike)

[Bufcomments]

I thought Weeden was better than RT. But I don't think it would be a stretch for EJ to match RT's numbers. He has a better cast around him.

I agree I thought Weeden played better also. I think Cleveland is gonna surprise this year, they have a good offense and an underrated D.

 

I think EJ is going to be better than Tannehill.

[JPS]

I like Jaws' but let's be honest. He has no idea. None of the "experts" do. It's a complete crapshoot. Jaws fawned over Losman. So I have no idea how well EJ is going to translate. But I do know that this guy is a package of stuff we haven't seen since Kelly. He has the size of Bledsoe. The mobility of Flutie. He has the arm of Losman. He has the leadership skills of Fitz.

 

As others have said, Russell Wilson was very average the 1st half of the season. On paper going into both of their rookie years, you could argue that the Bills might have a slightly more talented roster than the Seahawks last year. But the Hawks have great coaching (especially on D) and allowed Wilson to grow into the role. IMO, this season is on the defense. Let Manuel grow into the role.

 

I'd also like to say that the most underrated part of Manuel is the fact he had to play last season with his mother going through cancer treatments. I can't imagine that at my age, let alone a 21 yo playing QB for a championship caliber team. Here's to finally finding Jim Kelly's replacement.

On paper, on the computer, on the field, the Bills have nowhere near the talent the Seahawks had going into last year. Seattle had a complete defense and an O-line with subs. Do you really think that? or you messin with me?

[ko12010]

EJ (and Geno) are a huge topic of conversation on all the national sports talk shows because they are the only two starting rookies this year and with the success of the rookies from last year. I heard Mike & Mike earlier this morning saying that they need to be careful to not compare themselves to last year's group because they were an anomaly when you look at previous history of starting rookies. But they just asked Jaws his thoughts on EJ and he said he didn't think he had the skill of last year's QBs but didn't see any reason why he couldn't develop into a very good NFL QB. He said his main concern with how he will perform this week is the amount of time he lost in training camp. He said that is so criticial at this stage and it can't be replicated. He didn't have huge expectations for Game 1 - FWIW he said the same for Geno. The main difference everyone has pointed out between the two is that EJ has a better running game and that he has been established as the starter going forward, whereas the Jets have 4 QBs in camp and Geno seems more like te starter by default - both of which may work in EJ's favor as a rookie starting out with gaining confidence. Just thought it was interesting. I want nothing more than for EJ to go out there and have a great game against the Pats* in his first home game (of course the win is the priority) but I see his point and am trying to temper my expectations.

 

And now they asked Kiper the same question... he said EJ is in a better situation long-term because he was hand-picked by the coach and GM in Bflo as 1 st rd pick, however he tempered that by throwing in that Geno had the better grade going into the draft. He had to throw that in.

I'm just curious on this. Doesn't EJ have ALL the measurables of an ideal franchise QB? Big, solid frame, adequately strong arm, accurate enough, can scramble because of speed. And on the sports science segment EJ tested better than any other candidate ever, especially on this one test with touch throws while under pressure. What else is there? Is Jaws talking like dissecting defense's and reading d's and all that? Not sure what he means.

[Webster Guy]

I like Jaws' but let's be honest. He has no idea. None of the "experts" do. It's a complete crapshoot. Jaws fawned over Losman. So I have no idea how well EJ is going to translate. But I do know that this guy is a package of stuff we haven't seen since Kelly. He has the size of Bledsoe. The mobility of Flutie. He has the arm of Losman. He has the leadership skills of Fitz.

 

As others have said, Russell Wilson was very average the 1st half of the season. On paper going into both of their rookie years, you could argue that the Bills might have a slightly more talented roster than the Seahawks last year. But the Hawks have great coaching (especially on D) and allowed Wilson to grow into the role. IMO, this season is on the defense. Let Manuel grow into the role.

 

I'd also like to say that the most underrated part of Manuel is the fact he had to play last season with his mother going through cancer treatments. I can't imagine that at my age, let alone a 21 yo playing QB for a championship caliber team. Here's to finally finding Jim Kelly's replacement.

Biscuit you're always on the money.

 

We are running a fast paced offense with a rookie qb, and that is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on our defense this year. It was already evident in the preseason, and will become more so in the weeks ahead.

 

There will be quite a few three and outs this season as EJ goes through his growing pains, and with the no huddle attack a three-and-out can happen inside of a minute. This gives the defense very little time to rest and I'm sure is a huge area of concern for Marrone. If our defense is getting pounded in the run game and gives up a long drive, then is asked to go back out 4 minutes later and try to stop the same thing from happening again, we're in for a long season.

 

Punts and kick coverage need to be top notch as well.

 

The key will be defense. Our offense can hit a few home runs with CJ and the long ball, but our D is the key.

[C.Biscuit97]

On paper, on the computer, on the field, the Bills have nowhere near the talent the Seahawks had going into last year. Seattle had a complete defense and an O-line with subs. Do you really think that? or you messin with me?

 

Comparing this year's Bills to last year's Seahawks (before the season):

 

QB - both unknown

Rbs - I think Spiller/ FJax is a better group

Wrs - I like our group better. I'd take SJ over Rice and the rest of the group are pretty equal

Oline - Edge to Seattle

TE - I'd give that to Chandler

D Line - Talent wise, it's the Bills (they didn't prove it however)

LBs & DBs - Seattle

[BisonMan]

Comparing this year's Bills to last year's Seahawks (before the season):

 

QB - both unknown

Rbs - I think Spiller/ FJax is a better group

Wrs - I like our group better. I'd take SJ over Rice and the rest of the group are pretty equal

Oline - Edge to Seattle

TE - I'd give that to Chandler

D Line - Talent wise, it's the Bills (they didn't prove it however)

LBs & DBs - Seattle

 

I generally agree but that last point lumps together a lot of stuff. Seattle's secondary is MUCH better than the Bills' secondary. LBs are substantially better too. Those are big differences when it comes to overall defensive performance. Hopefully, the schemes the Bills run this year will make up for the limited talent.

 

Everyone forgets special teams here too. I think the Bills should have one of the best in the league, especially once Hopkins gets back from his injury. McKelvin and Goodwin returning kicks could be the best tandem in the NFL.

[C.Biscuit97]

I generally agree but that last point lumps together a lot of stuff. Seattle's secondary is MUCH better than the Bills' secondary. LBs are substantially better too. Those are big differences when it comes to overall defensive performance. Hopefully, the schemes the Bills run this year will make up for the limited talent.

 

Everyone forgets special teams here too. I think the Bills should have one of the best in the league, especially once Hopkins gets back from his injury. McKelvin and Goodwin returning kicks could be the best tandem in the NFL.

 

Agreed. And to be honest, I completely underrated Carroll as defensive coach. That said if you switched defensive talent and gave Carroll the Bills' unit and Wanny the Seattle one, I think the results are much different.

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

Jaws apparently also predicted the fish would win the AFC East this year. I'm starting to worry about him.

[RCOHEN13]

EJ (and Geno) are a huge topic of conversation on all the national sports talk shows because they are the only two starting rookies this year and with the success of the rookies from last year. I heard Mike & Mike earlier this morning saying that they need to be careful to not compare themselves to last year's group because they were an anomaly when you look at previous history of starting rookies. But they just asked Jaws his thoughts on EJ and he said he didn't think he had the skill of last year's QBs but didn't see any reason why he couldn't develop into a very good NFL QB. He said his main concern with how he will perform this week is the amount of time he lost in training camp. He said that is so criticial at this stage and it can't be replicated. He didn't have huge expectations for Game 1 - FWIW he said the same for Geno. The main difference everyone has pointed out between the two is that EJ has a better running game and that he has been established as the starter going forward, whereas the Jets have 4 QBs in camp and Geno seems more like te starter by default - both of which may work in EJ's favor as a rookie starting out with gaining confidence. Just thought it was interesting. I want nothing more than for EJ to go out there and have a great game against the Pats* in his first home game (of course the win is the priority) but I see his point and am trying to temper my expectations.

 

And now they asked Kiper the same question... he said EJ is in a better situation long-term because he was hand-picked by the coach and GM in Bflo as 1 st rd pick, however he tempered that by throwing in that Geno had the better grade going into the draft. He had to throw that in.

 

I heard him as well and for a guy that is so good at breaking plays down and go into detail about everything, he sures does not seem to have a "feel" for how things are diff here. He said expect a VERY conservative, game manager type game from Manuel and Geno. While i aree with perspective on Geno, i think the Jets play very conservative which does not suit Geno's skill set... Jaws was so off on Manuel, not even funny.. Our offense will not be vanilla... Whether we win or not, this offense is will going at fast pace no huddle attack.. How in the world can that be viewed as "conservative, game manager"... I understand there will be a lot of throws that by NFL standards is very basic in us throwing a bunch of 3 step drops and throw quick slants that tend to only go 5-10 yard downfield, but doing that, letting WR try adn get some YAC then lineup and get next play off when play clock at 20, is by NO MEANS a game manager form of attack. Even tho he didnt show it in preseason, we will have down field throws with the speed we got on outside, even if its on a 5 step drop, that ball can be 30-40 yards downfield by the time it comes down (hopefully in Bills hands!). We will probably have 5-10 plays at least in read option.

 

Again, this shows how little "experts" follow our squad! Either way, who cares, once we play a Pats, if we can make a game of it which i think is strong possibility, experts will finally see what we have known since OTA's. This O will be a fast paced, modern day K-Gun with some read option and TONS of speed at the skill positions. Not many teams can say they have the speed we will have on the field on plays when CJ is on field when we have 4 WR sets with Goodwin, Woods who I think will overtake SJ13 as our #1 even tho i LOVE Stevie, by end of yr and TJ i think will have impact on games stretching the field.

 

RC

[C.Biscuit97]

Jaws apparently also predicted the fish would win the AFC East this year. I'm starting to worry about him.

 

Well, he is from Lackawanna.

[YoloinOhio]

I love these clips: Per FSU, EJ Manuel has had many big moments in big games throughout his career. Yet what will define him for years to come was not a long run, a touchdown, or anything on the field. It was a halftime speech to his team during the Clemson game.

 

If you have seen these already, they are worth a 2nd viewing.

Halftime at Clemson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-YS50CJgyQ

 

Then there was this before the Orange Bowl... if you don't get chills knowing that this is now the leader of OUR Bills, you started tailgating waaay too early!

 

http://gamedayr.com/...l-speech-video/

Edited September 6, 2013 by YoloInTheBlo

[1billsfan]

Biscuit you're always on the money.

 

We are running a fast paced offense with a rookie qb, and that is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on our defense this year. It was already evident in the preseason, and will become more so in the weeks ahead.

 

There will be quite a few three and outs this season as EJ goes through his growing pains, and with the no huddle attack a three-and-out can happen inside of a minute. This gives the defense very little time to rest and I'm sure is a huge area of concern for Marrone. If our defense is getting pounded in the run game and gives up a long drive, then is asked to go back out 4 minutes later and try to stop the same thing from happening again, we're in for a long season.

 

Punts and kick coverage need to be top notch as well.

 

The key will be defense. Our offense can hit a few home runs with CJ and the long ball, but our D is the key.

 

I totally disagree...

 

Peyton Manning just threw 7 TD passes. Last year you had three rookie QBs who performed like HOFers.

 

With the new rules, defense in the NFL has become as relevant as defense in arena football.

 

IMO, the Bills will rise or fall this year (and the coming years) on EJ, CJ and the WRS.

[YoloinOhio]

I'm just curious on this. Doesn't EJ have ALL the measurables of an ideal franchise QB? Big, solid frame, adequately strong arm, accurate enough, can scramble because of speed. And on the sports science segment EJ tested better than any other candidate ever, especially on this one test with touch throws while under pressure. What else is there? Is Jaws talking like dissecting defense's and reading d's and all that? Not sure what he means.

He seemed to think that he was at a big disadvantage having missed so much camp as a rookie. Didn't touch so much on those specifics you mentioned, but that with the NFL game being one that needs to slow down for a rookie, it is even harder when you miss as much time as he did.

[C.Biscuit97]

I totally disagree...

 

Peyton Manning just threw 7 TD passes. Last year you had three rookie QBs who performed like HOFers.

 

With the new rules, defense in the NFL has become as relevant as defense in arena football.

 

IMO, the Bills will rise or fall this year (and the coming years) on EJ, CJ and the WRS.

 

Agree to a point. However, Russell Wilson and Kaepernick were both backed by top 5 defenses. That's gives a young QB a great opportunity to grow knowing they don't have to carry the team themselves. RG3 also had a pretty good defense as well. Luck had the worst defense and he had the worst stats.

 

IMO, the Bills have done a great job bringing EJ along. Allow him to complete short stuff and get a feel for the game. Brady was known as a dink and dunker at first and a bit of a caretaker for the Pats at first. Same with Big Ben. Now, they can single handedly carry their teams.

[JPS]

Comparing this year's Bills to last year's Seahawks (before the season):

 

QB - both unknown

Rbs - I think Spiller/ FJax is a better group

Wrs - I like our group better. I'd take SJ over Rice and the rest of the group are pretty equal

Oline - Edge to Seattle

TE - I'd give that to Chandler

D Line - Talent wise, it's the Bills (they didn't prove it however)

LBs & DBs - Seattle

 

You are a lot more kind to the Bills than I am.

RB - Push

Oline- Huge advantage to Seattle

WRs - Push (Tate was better than our #2)

TE - Who'd they have, Carlson?

Dline - Talent means nothing - The Bills Dline sucked then and still sucks until further notice.

Back 7 - Seattle had one of the top 3 back 7s in football. The Bills were way at the bottom.

 

 

We can't judge EJ based on the talent around him. I don't think he'll win much this year, but if he does, build a statue in front of the stadium right now. There are just too many unknowns on the Bills, particularly on the defensive side of the ball (but some on offense too).

[YoloinOhio]

I totally disagree...

 

Peyton Manning just threw 7 TD passes. Last year you had three rookie QBs who performed like HOFers.

 

With the new rules, defense in the NFL has become as relevant as defense in arena football.

 

IMO, the Bills will rise or fall this year (and the coming years) on EJ, CJ and the WRS.

This may be true but same holds true with Brady as I am having nightmares of him having a Manning-like performance or better against our defense. We cannot win a shootout with NE. We can hope that their D is not much better than ours, which is possible. I can see guys like Wilfork having a tough time with the fast pace. But it works both ways, and they have Brady and we don't. If we can get good field position and possibly even a TD from our ST, it would help tremendously.

[C.Biscuit97]

This may be true but same holds true with Brady as I am having nightmares of him having a Manning-like performance or better against our defense. We cannot win a shootout with NE. We can hope that their D is not much better than ours, which is possible. I can see guys like Wilfork having a tough time with the fast pace. But it works both ways, and they have Brady and we don't. If we can get good field position and possibly even a TD from our ST, it would help tremendously.

 

Honestly, I'd rather just blitz 11 guys and hit Brady than sit back in a zone and have him pick us apart.

[YoloinOhio]

Honestly, I'd rather just blitz 11 guys and hit Brady than sit back in a zone and have him pick us apart.

Anything that involves "hit Brady" sounds perfect to me.

[C.Biscuit97]

You are a lot more kind to the Bills than I am.

RB - Push

Oline- Huge advantage to Seattle

WRs - Push (Tate was better than our #2)

TE - Who'd they have, Carlson?

Dline - Talent means nothing - The Bills Dline sucked then and still sucks until further notice.

Back 7 - Seattle had one of the top 3 back 7s in football. The Bills were way at the bottom.

 

 

We can't judge EJ based on the talent around him. I don't think he'll win much this year, but if he does, build a statue in front of the stadium right now. There are just too many unknowns on the Bills, particularly on the defensive side of the ball (but some on offense too).

 

I think the general point is that there is some talent on the Bills and it's not a bad situation for a QB to come into. Plus, the AFC East might be the worst division in the NFL. That could help.

[billsfanmiami(oh)]

Jaws apparently also predicted the fish would win the AFC East this year. I'm starting to worry about him.

 

Yesterday on PTI he also stated pretty emphatically that this years Baltimore team was better than last years.