first_and_ten Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) I just want to point out to people that perhaps they should move back from the ledge about Manuel. Who knows how good/bad he ends up but QBs have bad games all the time. Carolina put up 10 points and Newton wasn't good. 50% for 160 something yards. They won...thanks to the D. The Niners put up 9 points and Kaepernick was brutal. 50% passing for less than 100 yards. He's looked bad plenty this season. Luck, lots of passing yards but 3 INTs and his team put up 8 points (and this was at home.) Imagine that, young QBs are inconsistent and sometimes have horrendous games. I'm not sold on Manuel but I'm willing to give the kid a chance. They have no choice but to give him a chance. They drafted him 16th overall.To go with an undrafted kid or a practice squad player would be an admission that they screwed up, big time. I just hope that they are willing to consider drafting another quarterback first in the next draft if Manueal doesn't turn it around this year and not be too stubborn to admit they might have made a mistake Edited November 11, 2013 by first_and_ten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikO M G Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) I'm sorry I thought this was the NFL. Rusty? Just not an acceptable excuse, I'm sorry. He's been practicing for two weeks. He played worse than either Tuel or Thad did in their first games, when they were seeing their first live action, and neither of them were drafted. EJ spends too much time tweeting about his college football team. Where is his head? Is he even focused on being a winning QB for the Bills? It certainly seemed like it at the beginning of the year, but now we all should be questioning whether he has the right mental makeup to go with all the question marks we already knew about his physical skill set. Edited November 11, 2013 by Right Manuel for the Job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 There's no bigger EJ fan than me - I met him when he was in 9th grade and he said if was lucky enough to get to the NFL he hoped to play for his Godfather's team, the Bills. But he looked every bit a rookie yesterday. Wind, lack of a running game, etc, are all valid points, but can anybody really say he looked anything other than unsettled, impatient, inaccurate, and totally befuddled? It was a bad showing all the way around. I believe he will get better, but that was a rough out for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I doubt they draft another QB high unless EJ continues to truly suck the rest of the year. If he really sucks the rest of the year, they will be more likely to draft another one early. If he doesn't totally suck and is just mediocre then I suspect they will try to find a veteran from another team to come in and compete for starting QB position again just like they tried to do with Kolb this year. Then whichever QB wins the job will play whether it is that new veteran guy, EJ, Thad or Tuel. I would be really interested to see how things are going in practice. Did EJ look better than Lewis and Tuel this week in practice or not? It is hard to believe that he did after watching that debacle of a football game. Are they starting him just because the fans expect him to start? Did starting him really give the Bills the best chance to win? If it did, then yikes! Wish I could get a good feel for what is happening in practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Gun Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm sorry I thought this was the NFL. Rusty? Just not an acceptable excuse, I'm sorry. He's been practicing for two weeks. He played worse than either Tuel or Thad did in their first games, when they were seeing their first live action, and neither of them were drafted. That says alot IMO. Lots of excuses being made, that EJ hasn't played in a long time. So what, Tuel or Thad had not played at all and were better than EJ, or were given the amount of 1st team reps that EJ got. This game made me a lot more concerned about EJ's future or lack there of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Play him (EJ Manuel) every second the next 6 games. Now is his chance. Either way, I'm planning on drafting a QB in the first 3 rounds next year and having a competition along with Thad Lewis. Tuel can go whine with Ryan Leaf in some dank pit. If John Football is there at pick ~10, he's my guy. I agree - play Manuel, see if he progresses. Unless he starts showing a lot more than he's shown so far, put a QB high on the draft priorities. Manziel isn't going to translate well to the NFL in my humble opinion. He's an unbelievable college playmaker, but short, maybe 4.55-ish speed, average arm strength, limited pocket presence.... LSU game anyone? How many of their D were drafted? 6 or 7? Keep him in the pocket with the speed of NFL defenses and he's fair to middling. As has been mentioned 100x EJ has such horrendous footwork it makes me cringe. He's had a couple strong moments. I can't close the book quite yet myself but im getting there. Agreed on both points. I think Manziel doesn't have the head and the work ethic to translate himself to the NFL. I doubt they draft another QB high unless EJ continues to truly suck the rest of the year. If he really sucks the rest of the year, they will be more likely to draft another one early. If he doesn't totally suck and is just mediocre then I suspect they will try to find a veteran from another team to come in and compete for starting QB position again just like they tried to do with Kolb this year. Then whichever QB wins the job will play whether it is that new veteran guy, EJ, Thad or Tuel. The problem with this strategy is that there simply aren't that many quality veteran QB. Who do you suggest we trade for/try to sign as a FA? Frankly, we'd be better off going with a talented rookie to compete. The fact that a multi-year UDFA has shown well enough relative to EJ that he has people suggesting he compete with EJ next year is a giant red flag. Enough with the bargain-bin QB stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Including preseason, EJ has played roughly six football games against NFL competition. For a significant portion of time, he's been unable to practice. Yesterday's game was absolutely awful to watch, and EJ did not look good -- but to draw any conclusions regarding whether or not he can be the Bills' franchise QB after this ridiculously small sample of work is ludicrous. And that's all I have to say about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 All I will say is that if EJ Manuel was signed as an undrafted free agent and not a 1st round pick we'd all be calling for Lewis to play. Without a doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alias Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I was thinking today that he has the intangibles, but maybe not the tangibles. Bingo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NishP Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'd never turn off a bills game, I don't give a !@#$ how much we are losing by lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmokinES3 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 EJ needs a good QB coach full time, not the OC like now. Exactly... Why this didn't happen in the first place and still hasn't up to this point I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I'm fine with giving EJ the final 6 games. Hopefully he can stay healthy and take every snap. If he continues to look like a mediocre backup QB (which he does in my opinion), then the Bills have to seriously address this in the offseason...possibly draft another QB and make it a competition. I am starting to see why Geno was looked at as a possible #1 overall pick last fall and EJ was not in the discussion. Geno sees the field and is a bit of a gunslinger. When he throws those intermediate and deep passes into coverage, he's actually fairly accurate. The Jets are living with his mistake and INT's but he's learning. I'd rather have that than a guy who can't throw downfield or who throws short passes with limited accuracy. That fade to Stevie was hideous. Too many of his sideline passes and fades give the receiver absolutely no chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hackett's play calling stinks. Why would we then believe he is some great QB coach? Personally i think Hackett is probably the single biggest issue with this team. If Geno can get coached up why can't EJ? EJ has all the talent and is bright and a hard worker. To me that points to the coach not knowing how to coach the young man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hackett's play calling stinks. Why would we then believe he is some great QB coach? Personally i think Hackett is probably the single biggest issue with this team. If Geno can get coached up why can't EJ? EJ has all the talent and is bright and a hard worker. To me that points to the coach not knowing how to coach the young man. Is it the coach or is it the player? The playbook was more varied with Lewis in there and the team took bigger shots downfield. Whatever the reason is, the play calls are different with EJ under center. It's either they still have the training wheels on, or EJ is still too timid to force the plays that the other guys are willing to take. Either way, this season is a wash for EJ's development, and the last 6 weeks are to be used solely to determine whether Bills need to draft a QB with the first two picks in 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Including preseason, EJ has played roughly six football games against NFL competition. For a significant portion of time, he's been unable to practice. Yesterday's game was absolutely awful to watch, and EJ did not look good -- but to draw any conclusions regarding whether or not he can be the Bills' franchise QB after this ridiculously small sample of work is ludicrous. And that's all I have to say about that. I agree, the over reaction on this site was however predictable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The bottom line is that just about everybody is over-reacting. It's one game. One game. If he had a spectacular game it'd still just be one game. Horrible games happen to everybody. What we need out of the QB position is consistent, good play and that only comes with reps. Despite everybody wanting know now, you just can't. Speaking for myself, I don't think it's just one game. I have not been impressed with most of EJ's play. He's had some good throws and even good drives, but overall I do not think he has looked like a promising rookie QB, especially on that was drafted so high. Of course saying so earlier in the season would get someone run out of town, but yesterday was SO bad, it's hard to ignore. I'll keep saying it, I am not in the camp that thinks rookies have to be playing to full potential right out of the gate, so I'm not saying that EJ is already a bust. But based on how bad he looks in certain areas, especially in the deep game, I am worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braedenstearns Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Are these all the people that Were complaining for like 2 weeks to play Manuel? I wouldn't be surprised if you people now want Thad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Gun Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Including preseason, EJ has played roughly six football games against NFL competition. For a significant portion of time, he's been unable to practice. Yesterday's game was absolutely awful to watch, and EJ did not look good -- but to draw any conclusions regarding whether or not he can be the Bills' franchise QB after this ridiculously small sample of work is ludicrous. And that's all I have to say about that. ...and how many games or 1st rep practice time did Thad or Tuel have? EJ should be leaps and bounds better even with a layoff due to injury and he was not even remotely close to being better than Tuel or Thad. That should concern every Bills fan that 2 street undrafted FAs performed better than the 1st round rook with a whole lot less game or practice time experience. How can that not concern everyone? I believe Tuel or Thad would have given the Bills a better chance to win yesterday than did EJ. That screams utoh! Edited November 11, 2013 by old school Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4BillsintheBurgh Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I told my wife during the pregame show (once I heard it was windy in Pittsburgh) that if EJ has a bad day throwing the football that the EJ lovers would be out there blaming the wind. Looks like that came true. Man that was an easy prediction. I bet half the people on this board made the same prediction. I was at the game and from my seats I had the opportunity to see the wind in action. The first quarter throw to Stevie that was either a curl or in route started out right at him and moved to the right enough to where Stevie dove/streched just to get a piece of it. The bad news is it will be windy in Buffalo and he needs to be able to make that throw. I am concerned about EJ as well, because I am not sure how much you can learn to react under pressure which is the biggest issue I see with EJ. The footwork and technique breaks down and that seems to be something a qb cannot learn to overcome. I'm hopeful, but I agree that the rest of this year is his audition and he needs to make strides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Hackett's play calling stinks. Why would we then believe he is some great QB coach? Personally i think Hackett is probably the single biggest issue with this team. If Geno can get coached up why can't EJ? EJ has all the talent and is bright and a hard worker. To me that points to the coach not knowing how to coach the young man. Marrone made a big mistake not bringing in an OC with NFL experience. Not only that but no QB coach is just dumb. The play calling was awful and predictable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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