metzelaars_lives

Hey I'll be the first to admit- when I sent my friend in Buffalo a check last week covering 3 of the 8 Bills home games this year that I'm flying back for from Denver (Ind, NE and Dal), I wasn't thinking about going to root for the Bills to win. Rather, I was eagerly anticipating being able to tell everyone how I was right and being able to watch Manuel hold a clipboard whether the Bills win or lose. But now that I've come around, it makes it easy for me because I can just root for EJ and the Bills!

Have faith my friend. While "Moron" did everything in his power to ruin Manuel, I still think there's time for this coaching staff to see the light. If EJ comes out and dominates again on Thursday and Meh is Meh and we all know Taylor will probably get hurt if he keeps playing so recklessly- this thing is far from over.

Nah you can even have a playoff win. Meh aint winning the big one anyway. I'll allow EJ to develop for a few more years knowing there's a chance that by then, he might actually be better than Meh. Again, you've gotta look at the bigger picture.

Agreed completely. No way to know what we have in EJ until they let the kid play. Geno, on the other hand- I think we can all agree that it's over for him. Sure he had shown a lot of improvement this offseason but I'll believe when I see it in a game.

Well obviously I was wrong. Here's to hoping they don't settle on Meh and they do the right thing, which is blatantly obvious to us and most of the posters on here and let the kid play. And when he has a bad game or two, you let him play through it! We got time here. I'd rather go 8-8 with EJ and see some nice development by the end of the season than go 11-5 with Meh and play in some lousy playoff game against the Bengals or something. Besides even if we get to the playoffs, we all know that Meh can't win a playoff game. Time to think bigger people.

Disagree completely. Kid had all the tools. If he came out a year earlier, he would've been the number one pick. Unfortunately this organization has no clue how to properly develop a qb. We gave him, what, 2 starts? If we remained patient with him and let him start for three years, who knows? Maybe he's our franchise qb today. But instead this inept organization ruined him just the same way they ruined Losman and Edwards and are about to do with Manuel.

The irony here is that I'm not being sarcastic at all. I took kind of a hard line anti-EJ stance and backed myself into a corner. Before I knew it I was saying stuff I didn't even believe just to maintain my anti-EJ persona. Truth of the matter is I've been trending this way for a while. Hey I didn't want to align myself with guys like bills fan 4 life but deep in my heart I knew he was right all along. But after Friday, I knew I had to come clean.

Hey you're not too far off. I nearly crapped myself after seeing the kid play on Friday. If this coaching staff really goes with Meh, I might be done with this team for good. And I mean it. Hey Whaley, you talk about qb purgatory, you're putting yourself there! EJ is the only way out! Yeah right!?! Haters gonna hate. Taylor Swift reminds us of that.

I'm at a complete loss here. The guy has a breakout performance on Friday and two days later, this!?! Anyway look who's reporting it. Mike Rod-"hack." Gotta take everything he says with a grain of salt. Either way, I'm beginning to rapidly lose faith in this coaching staff. You ever hear of letting a qb develop? We go with Cassel, we know exactly what we're getting. With EJ, the upside is- well, we don't even know! Could be Tannehill (now THAT'S how you let a qb develop- you let him play through the ups and downs) could be better! I wanna say EJ cruises past Tannehill though. No way Tannehill makes that throw that EJ made the other night. All he does is dink and dunk. We need that guy who can make that big throw down the field consistently and I think it's pretty clear EJ is that guy.

I gotta tell you guys, I've officially got EJ fever. Watching him in that preseason game really had me doing a 180. Death to "Meh" Cassel. I saw all I needed to see from him last night. Hey Meh! You ever hear of throwing a ball more than 5 yards!?! It's like hello!?! I say we cut the guy and roll with the youth movement. EJ clearly dominated in the scrimmage (I know bills fan 4 life ran his passer rating from the scrimmage, what was it again??) and on Friday, he was nothing short of spectacular. Did you guys see how perfect that long ball was?? So I don't really care what the media elitists are saying about practice (we talkin' practice!) and why they all seem to have an anti-EJ bias/agenda is beyond me. All I know is on the two big stages, the kid has been dominant and lit the place up. Meanwhile, Meh has curled up into a little shell. The guy stinks! I want to personally apologize to many of you for not seeing the light a lot sooner. I turned my back on Bills nation and quite frankly, I wasn't being a good fan. You were right, I was wrong. Hey everyone needs a little slice of humble pie from time to time, right? Go Bills and more importantly, go EJ!!

Here we are at the ceiling conversation again. While you have no hope that Cassel can emerge as a top flight starter this year (which I would agree with), do you also understand that it's MORE THAN LIKELY at this point that EJ Manuel- despite possessing a shred of the "unknown," which Cassel does not have, admittedly- won't be as good as Cassel? If you understand this concept, then I think everyone's on the same page and we can lay this thing to rest. Until tomorrow.

Agreed 100%. I understand that we're going to be running the ball a lot but you have to keep the defense honest. If you have zero threat of a downfield passing game you cannot run the ball effectively. Therefore, it is imperative we find the guy who is the best at throwing footballs accurately. This seems to be an issue for you know who (bring on his completion % as a rookie or something and around and around we go).

Dude no one is stretching to rip on EJ. At least not me. He's making it pretty easy. If he looks good against the 5th's tonight, I'll be happy with his performance. I am aware that he will be playing with lesser players on offense himself. The people that are bending over backwards are the people defending him.

Are you guys ready for the most obvious prediction ever (sorry for the hyperbole): Matt Cassel doesn't look very good tonight. Taylor doesn't look much better. EJ plays with the 3's and doesn't play that much or really do anything of consequence and all of a sudden, everyone is lauding EJ tomorrow because the other guys didn't look very good, even though he didn't do anything to raise his own stock. Book it.

I don't understand what you're trying to say. All I have said is that he's third right now. I don't think that's going to change. You do, apparently? That's fine. I respect your opinion. I'm not sure what you're basing it on but I respect it. It's like religious people and their faith. Ben Carson thinks the world is only 6,000 years old. Well, what about science and carbon dating and fossils and what not? Nope, sorry, my faith. What about the fact that EJ Manuel wasn't very good in college, has continued to regress as a pro and is losing out to Cassel and Taylor as we speak? Nope, sorry, I think he's gonna be good. I respect your faith man, I really do.

So you think if EJ Manuel was having a great camp that I would be in denial about it? I'M NOT OUT TO GET THE GUY, I JUST DON'T THINK HE'S VERY GOOD. Again, yes, he has had zero GREAT practices and I am not aware of a single reporter who wouldn't agree that EJ Manuel is third right now. You know, it is OK to invoke the phrase "everyone would agree" in situations sometimes when they are true. It is not hyperbole to say that everyone would agree that Wayne Gretzky is the best centre to ever play the game. It is not hyperbole to say that everyone would agree that it's not healthy to eat McDonald's on a regular basis. Similarly, yes, every media member would agree that EJ is third right now. Not hyperbole.

Is there a member of the media who has attended Bills camp thus far who wouldn't tell you that EJ has been the least impressive of the three? Honest question. I'd love to hear it or read about it.

What did I say that was hyperbolic? I'm just going by what I have read. I have in fact heard several people refer to Cassel's performance in a couple practices as "great" and I have not heard that word used to describe anything Manuel has done. I'm not ignoring anything. What are you accusing me of ignoring? I acknowledged that he was the best of the three twice. What is your stance? That he has had an impressive camp? You are the one who is ignoring the fact that EJ Manuel is third on the Bills depth chart right now. John Murphy, who has been outwardly pulling for EJ Manuel for the last five months, has said as much. It's not really up for debate. Again, can that change? Yes.

There was the one practice and the scrimmage (and guys I read and listen to every single outlet I can) where people kind of said, "yeah EJ was probably the best of the three today" but not once has anyone been glowing about his performance. Conversely, there have been two practices where everyone agreed Cassel had a great practice. There have been more than that where people have agreed Taylor had a great practice. EJ is third. Period. Everyone is willing to admit this except for like ten (the number is dwindling by the day) guys on this website. He can still salvage his career in Buffalo but he needs to come out swinging right now!

I'll be honest- I wanted the Bills to take Gronkowski and Wilson right where the Bills took Troup and Graham. Both were no-brainer picks and they instead got cute and took guys that would have otherwise gone in the third and seventh rounds, respectively.

Guys I haven't even given up on the guy yet. But can we please stop with the "hey one day, he's good, the other day Cassel's good, the other day Taylor's good, who can keep track..." charade? The fact of the matter is that every last reporter, observer, et al who has attended all of training camp has EJ third. Period. Has one guy really separated himself? No. Is there still time for him to win the job? Probably. But please don't pretend like he's not third right now. John Murphy, who is the biggest EJ dreamer of them all, said after their last practice, "It really seems like the other two guys are getting better each practice and learning the system and unfortunately I'm just not seeing any progress from EJ." Take it for whatever it's worth. And as far as "EJ's good days being better than Cassel's good days." No. That is simply not true. There have been two practices now where everyone agreed Cassel had a great practice. There have been zero practices where anyone said EJ had a great practice. There has been one practice and the scrimmage where EJ kind of won by default. Please stop trying to spin this into something it's not. Let me ask you this: forget about the other two guys for a second. Your guy is EJ, clearly. How do you feel about HIS progress so far this camp?

What? That doesn't make any sense. He's exactly the guy you want as your backup if you do decide to roll the dice on Taylor. Cassel will be on the freaking team unless he completely implodes. The only question is which of the other two, if not both of them, they keep. As of today, my prediction based on their performances so far is that EJ gets cut outright. There is still plenty of time, obviously, for that to change. Yes, exactly.

Why do you have so much patience when it comes to EJ but have already thrown in the towel on Tyrod Taylor? You mention EJ's 14 starts, yet I believe Taylor has 0 starts. And by every account, Taylor has been much better than Manuel in camp. Not to mention, Taylor was a better college QB than Manuel. And Gary Kubiak desperately wanted Taylor to follow him to Denver. I don't think anyone wants EJ Manuel to follow them anywhere. I just think if Manuel wasn't drafted in the first round, our perceptions of him would be wildly different. And also, guys, enough with the "no quarterback could have possibly been good on the Bills the last 15 years because they were so incredibly incompetent" argument. There are plenty of teams that were completely incompetent UNTIL a good QB came along. Unfortunately the Bills have had bad luck drafting QB's. I'm not even going to blame the Bills' scouting on this one. I liked the Losman pick, Edwards was a steal in the third round and I liked the Manuel pick. It's the chicken and the egg. You are putting way too much onus on everyone except the QB and not nearly enough on the QB himself. If the QB is good, he'll be good anywhere. And as far as not liking the QB coach because he was unable to develop Fitzpatrick in Buffalo? Are you kidding me? Fitzpatrick exceeded every expectation in Buffalo. In fact, he played the best football of his career in Buffalo, refuting your entire argument.

I don't think you're really paying attention. I listened to the entire John Murphy show tonight, which ran the length of practice, and everyone had high praise for Taylor- not only tonight but the last several practices.

After tonight's practice, John Murphy, the biggest EJ advocate of them all, just said, "I don't know, it just seems like the other two guys are getting better and progressing and EJ is just not progressing." Guys, the writing is pretty much on the wall at this point, is it not?