EJ Manuel Analysis

[drinkTHEkoolaid]

I only saw one of his games so I have a small sample to form an opinion from, but he was awful. No thanks

[Kelly the Dog]

I only saw one of his games so I have a small sample to form an opinion from, but he was awful. No thanks

So, if he were great in the one game you saw him would you say that we have to draft him?

[4BillsintheBurgh]

The inconsistency is tough to put a finger on. Many of us were hoping he'd turn the corner this season and play at an elite level. And he did, during some games. But he just couldn't carry it through.

 

I know this may be a goofy way to explain it, but the inconsistency was really visible in a non-quantitative sense. There were some games where he simply needed to make a few plays at some key junctures in the game and simply didn't. Even in some games we won he didn't play as good as he should have and is capable of.

 

As for the disagreements with Jimbo, they weren't anger fueled arguments. They were simply animated discussions. Jimbo tends to be a Saban-esque control freak, and can jump on players when they don't execute exactly the way he wants them to.

I thought occurred to me - maybe he spent a large amount of time studying for his classes instead of extra time with the football side of things.

[BobChalmers]

Ramius,

 

Good breakdown. I am a huge FSU fan as well and watched all of his games. Little known fact is the Ej would have been at the best a 2nd round prospect if he wanted to play baseball. Hes got a great arm and was told to dial it back a little bit by Fisher. That is where you saw the floaters come in during the first full year of starting. In the right offense with the right coach he can be dynamic. Rarely gets sacked and is as strong if not stornger than Newton. Fishers play calling was suspect at best and left me scratching my head a lot of the time as well. He can go as high as the late 2nd round just on size, and athletic ability alone or as low as the 5th depending on who is grading him out. Not as much as a project as everyone thinks but needs a veteran to sit behind before seeing any action.

 

Another FSU fan/alum myself, I agree with all of this including appreciating Ramius' excellent report.

 

I guess the best way to view Manuel in the context of the draft is he's probably the best possble SECOND QB to take. If the Bills were counting him to be the man, that would be bad, but as a "potential value" guy he might be among the best ever such picks.

[sjjr]

To me he's got as much upside as any QB in this draft. He's got all the physical tools necessary to be successful and seems to be a smart, good kid.

 

He's clearly not ready to play now and needs to be developed over a few years before everyone knew what he could be.

 

If the Bills were to bring in a veteran guy like Alex Smith, who could handle starting for a competitive team for 2-3 years while a guy like Manuel develops then he's the guy in the 2nd-4th round range. To me he's right there with Glennon and L.Jones as developmental prospects that are mid round picks with upsides given the right development in the right system.

 

If not, has to be a guy who can play sooner like Barkley, G.Smith or T.Wilson.

[playman]

He's a biomecanical engineer but you want to see the wonderlic score, does that make sense? I don't think so. I'm not saying he's football smart but he's plenty smart, no doubt.

 

Thanks and great work Ramius, I like this kid a lot, he has tremendous tools to work with and I like his 4-0 record in bowl games.

 

thats exactly why. quick thinking, not extensive research. as in playing qb, not inventing cyborgs

[BUFFALOTONE]

This isnt the homer in me saying this I really think he translates better than Geno Smith does in the pro game. The reason he does not have the gaudy stats is FSU has a plethora of great RBs and does not need to throw the ball all over the field to beat you. Smith is a great talent but was in a hot read offense, rarely did he check down and make reads, it is evident after about the 5th game of the year when WV was stoped in its tracks offensively.

[Ramius]

I'll also add 2 things to the discussion.

 

1) Jimbo's play calling did not allow EJ to throw the ball downfield very often. Jimbo liked the short stuff.

 

2) EJ drove a scooter around campus.

[Astrobot]

A couple of things:

 

(1) EJ Manuel had the best yards per attempt this year.

 

(2) He may drop for the inconsistency factor so that he's the 7th QB drafted (Nassib-Glennon, Smith, Barkley, Wilson, LJones). Last year, that makes him available at #88, well before our RD3 pick.