Bocephuz Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) I'm not saying it will happen, but EJ does have some similar characteristics ( tall, approx. 250 lbs, surprisingly mobile, strong arm, escapability in the pocket.. ie..reverse spin move, good in the clutch) to Big Ben and is it too far fetched to think he could potentially have a similar career? "Distribute. Distribute to the playmakers," Whaley said. "Now, five years from now? I'm gonna be saying he's our playmaker, so whatever he wants to do, he can do it. But the matriculation has to be like that. I lean on what it was like when I was with Pittsburgh. That's what happened with Ben Roethlisberger. His first year, if you look at his stats, I think we threw over 22 times maybe twice (Editor's note: There were four such regular-season occurrences), but we had a strong running game and we had a good defense. And that's what we got here." Edited July 21, 2014 by Bocephuz
The Big Cat Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Big Ben had running backs that consistently hit the inside creases...taking A LOT of pressure off him in his first few years. He wasn't/didn't have to be the gun slinger he is now. He was also really good on the run, as EJ is...WHEN he's not taking unnecessary shots.
Gugny Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 The editor's note is what's most important, in my opinion. Teams that run and stop the run win. Period. Once Buffalo fixes its putrid run defense, the Bills will start winning games. Lots of them. If they don't fix it; the wins simply won't happen.
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I am a little skeptical. I think Ben R. is a lot stronger in the pocket, and is much better at moving to keep plays alive in order to throw. I also think Whaley undersells how good Ben R. was his rookie year. He won them a handful of games, and looking at his stats, he had a 98 QB rating and a 8.9 ypc average. That said, I hope EJ can develop into Ben R.
Luxy312 Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 (edited) It's a nice comparison, but let's not forget that Ben was completing 66.4% of his passes that first year. His QB rating was 98.1. While not being asked to throw the ball a lot, he was very efficient when he did. EJ's numbers last year were just OK. His completion percentage was 58.8% and his QB rating was 77.7. His production was comparable to what Fitzpatrick was delivering to us year in and year out. If Manuel gets it, if he truly improves, he will be the best quarterback this team has had in 12 years, maybe more. The only thing that is Ben Roethlisberger like so far is his size. Edited July 21, 2014 by Luxy312
jumbalaya Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 fact is with EJ is we just don't know. We will know in three years. He will be better this year if he stays healthy, how much better depends on those around him and especially, Hackett, who is my mind, thinks he is smarter than he really his. He wants a young offense to dictate. I don't think that they will be there for two more years. We need ball control and to take time off the clock and give the defense a rest. Hackett wants to go go go. You cannot have ball control and both.The KGun never did.
CodeMonkey Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I have no doubt that is the plan at OBD. Let's hope the plan works out.
RuntheDamnBall Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 It's what everybody is hoping. If we end up even with Big Ben Lite, but a better person, that's a grand f---ing coup. Especially since that single first round pick was turned into Manuel and Kiko.
mrags Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 The editor's note is what's most important, in my opinion. Teams that run and stop the run win. Period. Once Buffalo fixes its putrid run defense, the Bills will start winning games. Lots of them. If they don't fix it; the wins simply won't happen. i agree with this. Passing looks good in wins and on stat sheets. Making broke think it's what wins games. But it's still run and stop the run. Yiu still need to keep the ball. Keep the ball out of the defenders hands. And run out the clock. That doesn't mean you have to be able to run more than the other team because big time playmakers like CJ, Charles can mislead you. The key is picking up first downs when needed to extend drives and keep the other teams offense off the field.
truth on hold Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Big ben takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Knee J is about as durable as a cellophane condom
mrags Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Big ben takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Knee J is about as durable as a cellophane condom lol. Best ever.
Max997 Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 EJ doesn't hv anywhere near the same escapability as Ben
Ronin Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I'm not saying it will happen, but EJ does have some similar characteristics ( tall, approx. 250 lbs, surprisingly mobile, strong arm, escapability in the pocket.. ie..reverse spin move, good in the clutch) to Big Ben and is it too far fetched to think he could potentially have a similar career? "Distribute. Distribute to the playmakers," Whaley said. "Now, five years from now? I'm gonna be saying he's our playmaker, so whatever he wants to do, he can do it. But the matriculation has to be like that. I lean on what it was like when I was with Pittsburgh. That's what happened with Ben Roethlisberger. His first year, if you look at his stats, I think we threw over 22 times maybe twice (Editor's note: There were four such regular-season occurrences), but we had a strong running game and we had a good defense. And that's what we got here." I can't believe that Whaley lowered himself to making such ridiculous statements. Oh wait, yes I can.
RuntheDamnBall Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Again, I'm truly surprised that EJ haters have found another opportunity to share their heretofore unheard viewpoints in this thread. Truly surprised.
Ronin Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 I am a little skeptical. I think Ben R. is a lot stronger in the pocket, and is much better at moving to keep plays alive in order to throw. I also think Whaley undersells how good Ben R. was his rookie year. I also don't think that Whaley understands how much better a QB Roethlisburger was in college and how he was a legitimate 11th overall selection unlike Manuel. All Whaley has now is talk. He's teetering on the precipice of irrelevancy. If he's wrong he's finished, so he may as well talk up a storm, it's all he has.
Ronin Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Again, I'm truly surprised that EJ haters have found another opportunity to share their heretofore unheard viewpoints in this thread. Truly surprised. It's always so refreshing to hear a supposed professional make such a comparison to another player. For starters he's wrong and it should have taken him about 30 seconds on his i-phone to validate his thoughts. Roethlisburger threw 22 or more times 5 times in his rookie season, not four like the editor's note says, but five. Otherwise we don't have a good defense and for sure not one as good as Pittsburgh had. Theirs was ranked 1st in both scoring and yardage in 2004 and 3rd in scoring and 4th in yardage in '05. Ours was ranked 10th in yards and an irreconcilable 20th in scoring last season, hardly anywhere close to equal. But here we have a highly paid GM that can't even afford 2 minutes to do a small bit of research before opening his mouth to look like the fool that he is, and we expect from him in the offseason? Sounds to me like he doesn't really know what this new up and coming GM is doing. If he does, then he's sure faking that he doesn't.
RuntheDamnBall Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Knee J. That was funny. Even after the first 300 times? But here we have a highly paid GM that can't even afford 2 minutes to do a small bit of research before opening his mouth to look like the fool that he is, and we expect from him in the offseason? Sounds to me like he doesn't really know what this new up and coming GM is doing. If he does, then he's sure faking that he doesn't. Sounds to me like we are looking for reasons to be upset, which is nothing new.
Ronin Posted July 21, 2014 Posted July 21, 2014 Sounds to me like we are looking for reasons to be upset, which is nothing new. Nah, I've been upset for years. I don't know how any fan of this team could be anything but upset at this point. Good for you if you're satisfied with the current state of affairs. You sound like the lot of those around RP McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the guys that were happy with their circumstances in the assylum. I was simply pointing out the obvious stupidity and ignorance of our fearless leader, the one that everyone keeps saying is the next up and coming brainchild in the NFL. Sorry, but it's stuff like this that steps all over that.
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