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EJ Manuel: What went wrong after year 1?


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I guess some will argue otherwise but imo Manuel’s first year here wasn’t that bad.  He held his own in the first game of the year against the Patriots, defeated the Ravens (they previously just won the Super Bowl), and looked like a boss in one game against the Jets that year.  It wasn’t until 2014 where it was obvious he really hadn’t developed.

 

Was that attributed to coaches having more film on him, him losing his confidence, or possibly poor coaching here?  I can’t help to make some parallels to EJs first year to Josh’s.  They both missed a few games there rookie years, there’s a good chance this team will win 6 games like that team did, and imo they both showed flashes of what’s to come while still some things to work on.  

 

Just have my fingers crossed Josh will work out.  I mean at one time EJ was capable of these kind of plays:

 

 

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He was a sub 60% completion passer as a rookie who was forced to play to soon.  After the first season it was deemed he didn’t have any talent around him so Buffalo in incorrectly traded up for Sammy Watkins thinking that a WR would help his completion percentage.

 

Little did Buffalo realize that the QB makes the Receivers not the other way around.

 

good thing things are no where near that in Buffalo today.

 

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Edited by RalphWilson'sNewWar
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Among other things, there was definitely a confidence issue. I remember the media trashing on EJ so hard, even as a rookie. After one PC, as EJ was leaving the room, a reporter asked something along the lines of 'Should the Bills draft another QB right away??' Like, some went out of their way to trash him. It was pathetic.

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Couldn’t scan the field, terrible accuracy(don’t care what stats say he threw tons of checkdowns to boost %), not a natural thrower, terrible pocket presence. Allen, with much less to work with, already looks light years ahead of EJ after 1st year using the eye test 

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EJ  did like a lot of rookie QBs and took advantage of the league's lack of tape on him to put together a halfway decent season, but the signs were there that it wouldn't last. He had terrible accuracy, and bad pocket presence. Bills fans were just fooling themselves hoping that the passes that hit receiver's feet could be fixed.

 

Allen has all the physical tools to be a star QB, he just needs time to learn how to read NFL defenses, not play hero ball and take the yardage given, and WRs who catch the damn ball...

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30 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

 

This is a cop out post and you know it. The differences are night & day. Stats are for -well, you know..

Not a cop out. I believe Allen’s leadership, competitiveness and intangibles are way beyond EJ’s. But all those things mean nothing unless he improves in year 2. I don’t believe they’ll bring in a QB in the draft or FA.

 

It will be interesting to see if Allen makes an actual statistical improvement in year 2. 

 

There are arguments that can be made to support improvement, regression, or a plateau. 

 

Can we all agree he must improve his completion percentage? Accuracy aside people need to start catching greater than 50% of his pass attempts.   

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2 hours ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said:

He was a sub 60% completion passer as a rookie who was forced to play to soon.  After the first season it was deemed he didn’t have any talent around him so Buffalo in incorrectly traded up for Sammy Watkins thinking that a WR would help his completion percentage.

 

Little did Buffalo realize that the QB makes the Receivers not the other way around.

 

good thing things are no where near that in Buffalo today.

 

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? ???

So is Josh Allen. Things right now are still as bad as back then; we're not in the playoffs.

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I know it is an unpopular opinion, and ultimately he probably was never going to be an upper echelon starter, but he really didn't get much of a shot in Buffalo.  For a guy who was drafted as high as he was, he only had 10 starts before Marrone, essentially gave up on him.  Even Jamarcus Russell, the standard for modern NFL QB bust got 15 consecutive starts in his second season (missed most of his rookie season with holdout and injury issues) before the Raiders pulled the plug on him. Really, after the first 5 games of his rookie season, Manuel had 12 more starts, spread out over 4 seasons. Before he got injured against Cleveland, on that Thursday night game, he was 2-2 as a starter, and I think most Bills fans were cautiously optimisitic that the Bills might have a decent QB.  But that injury, 5 games into his career, pretty much sealed his fate.  He never really had a real shot after that.  Not necessarily blaming Marrone, but he just had no committment to the first round pick. I do feel like he could have improved with more playing time. 

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

 

This is a cop out post and you know it. The differences are night & day. Stats are for -well, you know..

I agree with you, but their passing stats are pretty similar in their rookie years...EJ has a slight edge in completion % and TD/INT ratio.  But, obviously, Allens' mobility (and pulse) give him a huge edge.

Edited by Buftex
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EJ was a hard worker during the season. Bruce tried to lend his support to his godson. During offseason Bruce should have been emphasizing to him he needed help with his passing and then he would have been better prepared. There was some significant hope after 1st year he would improve but frankly there was no chance of that with Maroon and his OC. 

 

He certainly was not the worst QB who was designated as starter at start of year.

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2 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

 

This is a cop out post and you know it. The differences are night & day. Stats are for -well, you know..

 

Intelligent people? Not Homer's? People not trying to hide from reality? 

 

You know everyone who utters that quote pretty much gets fired. It's pretty much the dumbest quote ever when you use it in your context.

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1 hour ago, Buftex said:

 

I agree with you, but their passing stats are pretty similar in their rookie years...EJ has a slight edge in completion % and TD/INT ratio.  But, obviously, Allens' mobility (and pulse) give him a huge edge.

 

Neither of them had good stats or won. It's an awful use of an already awful phrase. Lol like what is his point.

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5 hours ago, RalphWilson'sNewWar said:

He was a sub 60% completion passer as a rookie who was forced to play to soon.  After the first season it was deemed he didn’t have any talent around him so Buffalo in incorrectly traded up for Sammy Watkins thinking that a WR would help his completion percentage.

 

Little did Buffalo realize that the QB makes the Receivers not the other way around.

 

good thing things are no where near that in Buffalo today.

 

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...

? ???

The QB makes the receivers? So Josh needs to hit his receivers more in the hands and chest does he? 

 

You need both, you cannot win in the NFL with practice squad receivers. Look at Green Bay this season and tell me they don't miss Jordy Nelson. 

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