Archives for April 2013

‘Whether you like E.J. Manuel or not, as a Bills fan you have to appreciate what it represents — a bold move to take a swing at a quarterback in the first round that could have positive gains if done correctly. Now, it can also not work entirely, leaving the Bills with their last two first round quarterbacks picked to have left a lot to be desired.’

‘”When Dion Jordan got selected, someone called my hotline phone that was there at the draft,” Manuel told Patrick. “I think they were looking for Dion, but I got excited because I heard it ring. I was like, Man, that’s a prank call right there.”

‘”I stuck around and watched the draft until EJ was selected,” Smith said, “and then I immediately texted my son, who plays at Virginia Tech now. EJ and my son Alston are very good friends as well. His exact words were, ‘This is crazy, Dad,’ the fact that he’s going to be going to the same team I played for, and all the history that was created there.”‘

‘Well to me it was more so that there only needs to be one team to fall in love with you. Whether it was the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles or the Cleveland Browns-I knew one of those teams was going to take a quarterback. I did not know how soon. I am just extremely elated I was taken at 16 when I saw the Bills trade back from eight to 16. I knew they would probably take a quarterback. When my phone rang I was extremely excited.’

‘The Bills spoke highly of Woods before the draft and described him as one of the most NFL ready receivers in this year’s draft, with Bills scout Brad Forsyth calling him “as polished a receiver as I’ve seen in a while.” Nix affirmed that belief Friday following Woods’ selection.’

‘It comes with the territory. I know coming to the NFL (you’re) playing some bigger and better corners. Like I said, it comes with the territory. I’m ready and willing to go against each and every corner in the league. I feel like with a great scheme you can beat anything with the book.’

‘”Mike and the defense is excited to bring him in,” said head coach Doug Marrone. “A young player that hasn’t played as much as the other players that we’ve had. He’s shown that he can play multiple positions. He’s shown that he can play on teams. He’s shown that he’s instinctive.”‘

‘Yeah, definitely. I think, not taking credit away from the offense obviously because they are awesome putting up the points and yards per game. It is really hard to look past them, but we have a lot of great players on the defense. We already had one picked with Dion (Jordan). We have a ton of players and a lot of talent who do not really get looked at because of what the offense is capable of doing and what there is on that side of the ball.’

‘”When I look at offense, I try to look at playmakers; people that can make plays, people that can be productive,” explained Marrone. “The whole thing in this league is how are you going to score?”‘

‘I’m a football guy that just happens to run track because I just got drafted by the Buffalo Bills. First of all given my honest to God for the opportunity, my school and everybody. But I don’t think if I was strictly a track guy trying to play football that I would’ve been drafted, especially in this round with the numbers that I have. Obviously somebody thought enough to invest in me because they saw me as a football player.’

‘Well we’ve been talking about getting a receiver. And Robert Woods we were fortunate that he was there and the guy’s got the intangibles; plus made all these catches. We got to know him a little bit when we were out there working out Matt Barkley. We’d already written him in that kind of thing. The individual workout we got to visit with him a little bit.’

‘”We’re talking about the wide receiver position being deep,” said Nix. “It’s going to always be deep the way colleges are going. They’re playing with four and five wides, so there’s more of them. There’s always going to be good players and there are three or four that would fit that outside receiver job that could challenge deep and be a vertical guy.”‘

‘I watched a few Florida State games in the past two seasons. Manuel is a good quarterback. Is he an Andrew Luck or RGIII-caliber quarterback? Right now, I’d say no. But he has all the tools to be a winning quarterback in the NFL.’

‘Manuel probably is going to sit for at least a year, if not two behind Kevin Kolb. Again, Bills fans need patience and wait for their new toy to be unleashed.’

‘Not only did the Bills choose the QB they coveted – Manuel – they now have eight draft choices including three in the Top 46, their own second-rounder at 41 and then St. Louis’.’