In defense of EJ (yeah, I said it!)

[BmarvB]

EJ's performance today was the first or second best game performance by a Buffalo quarterback this season.

 

Will he stay consistent?

 

1st half was by far THE worst by a bills QB in a very long time. 2nd half was indeed the best of the season so far.

He's already consistently good - AND BAD.

 

But then again, we could have just seen the turning point in his development in that second half where it all just came together for him (yeah, I'm really reaching now, but hey, you never know).

He's a backup QB. Forget that he was a first rounder. He **** the bed for 2 minutes in the second then rebounded to have arguably the best half of his career. The overall numbers, 298 2/2 are not nearly so bad as everyone is implying. No deep threat receivers and no right side of the line btw. I about threw up in the 2nd, but he still only has a rookies worth of NFL experience. The man has tremendous talent and some of the throws he did make were very impressive. Hopefully we won't need him again this year but these two games were highly valuable experiences that he can build on in the future.

 

Nice to know I'm not alone in my optimism for him

Edited October 26, 2015 by BmarvB

[Felonious Monk]

Let's Go Mets!

 

Last night at dinner, my wife smiled and asked me, "How does it feel to root for a championship team?" I thought she was being facetious. So I shot back, "Yeah, they suck. My favorite football team SUCKS. Is that what you want to hear?" Puzzled, she squinted and said, "But -- I thought you've been a diehard Mets fan for 35 years. Haven't you?"

HOLY SH*T!!! We've only watched every inning of every Mets game for the past two months. We've partied after each playoff win. I grew up a few blocks away from Shea. I've been a Mets fan since the early '80s, when Mookie Wilson and Jesse Orosco were rookies. Yet my first thought went to the Bills. After a much-deserved apology, I tried to explain my reaction. It's really, really simple. Thanks to the Bills, I've forgotten what it's like to root for a winner. During every one of the Mets/Cubs games, I was sure they'd blow the lead and lose. 1986 seems like forever ago. Granted, I was barely a teenager back then, but in my eyes, my team couldn't lose. Now, in my eyes, my team can't win.

For as much as I love the Bills, I really, really hate them.

[TheFunPolice]

EJ was never really supposed to be great.

 

He was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Even Nix was recorded saying it wasn't a good year to need a QB (i.e he didn't necessarily expect EJ to be great but needed to take who he thought had the most upside).

 

Good kid, hard worker, some decent physical skills. Worth taking a shot on given the other options in that draft and the team's desperate need for a QB.

 

Sadly, he is a terrible NFL QB. It's known.

 

But it's not some sort of surprise. EJ was not a highly touted prospect.

 

Finally EJ didn't "lead us all the way back." He got within 4. Then the defense (which had stopped Jax on 4 plays from the 1) got a pick 6 to take the lead. When that same defense gave up a TD EJ was totally inept on the last drive to get the FG.

 

The Jaguars were 1-5 and have the 30th ranked defense BTW.

Edited October 26, 2015 by TheFunPolice

[jeffismagic]

EJ was never really supposed to be great.

 

He was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Even Nix was recorded saying it wasn't a good year to need a QB (i.e he didn't necessarily expect EJ to be great but needed to take who he thought had the most upside).

 

Good kid, hard worker, some decent physical skills. Worth taking a shot on given the other options in that draft and the team's desperate need for a QB.

 

Sadly, he is a terrible NFL QB. It's known.

 

But it's not some sort of surprise. EJ was not a highly touted prospect.

Finally EJ didn't "lead us all the way back." He got within 4. Then the defense (which had stopped Jax on 4 plays from the 1) got a pick 6 to take the lead.

 

This is completely a made up narrative. I do think EJ was "over-drafted", but not by 2 rounds. Mike Mayock talks to all of the NFL teams and gets a pretty good read on what they see on their board. EJ was a late 1st/early 2nd type. The Bills wanted to make sure they got their guy and so traded back, acquired a 2nd round pick, and then took EJ a bit early. In fact, Mayock mentioned how many teams had EJ as their top QB on their board. It was a year, like others, with disagreement. Cowboys had EJ lower but they also leaked their entire draft board that year. Their draft board had some very questionable players ahead of EJ such as Nassib and Barkley. It looked like the Cowboys were scouting for QB's that had higher floors and lower ceilings as they would be drafting a backup QB. So buyer beware there.

 

Christian Ponder, a worse prospect than EJ, went HIGHER than EJ. That's how NFL drafts go. QB's go early and if you want one you need to take them a bit earlier than you would want because other teams need QB's as well.

 

This is what happened from my viewing of the situation. The Bills did indeed neglect the QB position for many years. Nix was the GM and had Whaley as his GM in training. Nix decided he was going to pull the trigger before he left as he wanted a QB on the team before he left that was drafted. He told Whaley to set up the board. Nix and Whaley scouted the draft heavily and EJ was at the top of their board. He looked like a standard Nix pick as well. Proto-type size. good production, player from the South.

 

So kill Whaley for allowing EJ to be on the top of the board if you want (I don't as that was a bad year for QB's). But Nix made the decision to draft a QB no matter what.

[3rdand12]

He's a backup QB. Forget that he was a first rounder. He **** the bed for 2 minutes in the second then rebounded to have arguably the best half of his career. The overall numbers, 298 2/2 are not nearly so bad as everyone is implying. No deep threat receivers and no right side of the line btw. I about threw up in the 2nd, but he still only has a rookies worth of NFL experience. The man has tremendous talent and some of the throws he did make were very impressive. Hopefully we won't need him again this year but these two games were highly valuable experiences that he can build on in the future.

This i a fair post.

after totally freaking out seeing EJ go all "deer in the headights ala Texans" and being amazed this could even happen again! that was a weird period. The Kid had lost it. just gone.

I said thats it. done. toast.

Then he sets it aside and comes back and bring the team with him all leader like.

 

Keep him as the backup and hope like Hell Tyrod can play, stay healthy and improve with each game.

Roman changed up just for EJM and the kid almost looked decent.

But like Fitzy, he can just as quickly kill ya.

 

Bills need to keep drafting qbs. and next time raise the kid correctly. please let the new kid sit a season.

Being desperate for qb is a deep hole to climb out of people. and thats how we have the EJ we have today. kid is broken possibly

[machine gun kelly]

Farewell EJ. We're going to miss that guy. He'll never play another down in the NFL. No one will ever pick him up. Hopefully he made enough in his rookie contract to take care of himself with his next career. i mean that sincerely as I have nothing against him personally and hope he is off to a good career in life, just not as a QB for the Buffalo Bills back up or otherwise.

[3rdand12]

 

This is completely a made up narrative. I do think EJ was "over-drafted", but not by 2 rounds. Mike Mayock talks to all of the NFL teams and gets a pretty good read on what they see on their board. EJ was a late 1st/early 2nd type. The Bills wanted to make sure they got their guy and so traded back, acquired a 2nd round pick, and then took EJ a bit early. In fact, Mayock mentioned how many teams had EJ as their top QB on their board. It was a year, like others, with disagreement. Cowboys had EJ lower but they also leaked their entire draft board that year. Their draft board had some very questionable players ahead of EJ such as Nassib and Barkley. It looked like the Cowboys were scouting for QB's that had higher floors and lower ceilings as they would be drafting a backup QB. So buyer beware there.

 

Christian Ponder, a worse prospect than EJ, went HIGHER than EJ. That's how NFL drafts go. QB's go early and if you want one you need to take them a bit earlier than you would want because other teams need QB's as well.

 

This is what happened from my viewing of the situation. The Bills did indeed neglect the QB position for many years. Nix was the GM and had Whaley as his GM in training. Nix decided he was going to pull the trigger before he left as he wanted a QB on the team before he left that was drafted. He told Whaley to set up the board. Nix and Whaley scouted the draft heavily and EJ was at the top of their board. He looked like a standard Nix pick as well. Proto-type size. good production, player from the South.

 

So kill Whaley for allowing EJ to be on the top of the board if you want (I don't as that was a bad year for QB's). But Nix made the decision to draft a QB no matter what.

he had to . Bills put the obvious ( to us fans ) too long. and the option were less then stellar. They had to.

and that a bad spot to be in.

some might suggest they are still in that spot.

 

hauntingly the trade up for Watkins affected/s Bills ability to trade up to grab the next qb . high risk move.

Farewell EJ. We're going to miss that guy. He'll never play another down in the NFL. No one will ever pick him up. Hopefully he made enough in his rookie contract to take care of himself with his next career. i mean that sincerely as I have nothing against him personally and hope he is off to a good career in life, just not as a QB for the Buffalo Bills back up or otherwise.

I wonder if that is true.

Lets keep an eye on this the next couple years. there just aint enough QBs.

hell we pulled Orton out of retirement last year!

[jeffismagic]

 

I'll just assume that you didn't read my post.

 

You mentioned that EJ was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. That is what I was talking about. I hear that all the time but there is no evidence for that.

[Hanoverbills]

He's a backup QB. Forget that he was a first rounder. He **** the bed for 2 minutes in the second then rebounded to have arguably the best half of his career. The overall numbers, 298 2/2 are not nearly so bad as everyone is implying. No deep threat receivers and no right side of the line btw. I about threw up in the 2nd, but he still only has a rookies worth of NFL experience. The man has tremendous talent and some of the throws he did make were very impressive. Hopefully we won't need him again this year but these two games were highly valuable experiences that he can build on in the future.

when he is down by 9 to 16 points this year ( 2 games) he has completed 66.7% of his passes 7.3 yards and three tds. Of course if he played better the first half, we wouldn't be down that many points. I like EJ, but when he misses little dump off to shady, I shake my head. Yes he had costly turn overs, but he did bring us back to a point were we had a chance to win.

[TheFunPolice]

 

You mentioned that EJ was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. That is what I was talking about. I hear that all the time but there is no evidence for that.

 

You hear that all the time because it was said by pretty much everyone around the draft.

 

But then again, you are right that QBs are always taken high. The point is not a criticism of Whaley or even Nix. They needed to take a shot because the team was desperate. But it's hardly some sort of shock that the kid is not any good. He was never highly touted, because if he was the same inflation rule would apply and he would have gone top 5.

when he is down by 9 to 16 points this year ( 2 games) he has completed 66.7% of his passes 7.3 yards and three tds. Of course if he played better the first half, we wouldn't be down that many points. I like EJ, but when he misses little dump off to shady, I shake my head. Yes he had costly turn overs, but he did bring us back to a point were we had a chance to win.

 

EJ almost broke even against the 1-5 Jaguars who had the 30th ranked defense after he handed them 21 points.

 

Pardon me for not being impressed.

[Hanoverbills]

EJ was never really supposed to be great.

 

He was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Even Nix was recorded saying it wasn't a good year to need a QB (i.e he didn't necessarily expect EJ to be great but needed to take who he thought had the most upside).

 

Good kid, hard worker, some decent physical skills. Worth taking a shot on given the other options in that draft and the team's desperate need for a QB.

 

Sadly, he is a terrible NFL QB. It's known.

 

But it's not some sort of surprise. EJ was not a highly touted prospect.

 

Finally EJ didn't "lead us all the way back." He got within 4. Then the defense (which had stopped Jax on 4 plays from the 1) got a pick 6 to take the lead. When that same defense gave up a TD EJ was totally inept on the last drive to get the FG.

 

The Jaguars were 1-5 and have the 30th ranked defense BTW.

In the Patriots game defense got a turnover and Taylor threw a int. to end the game. he couldn't get us the win. Taylors terrible." just kidding" I sound Like you don't I.

[3rdand12]

 

You hear that all the time because it was said by pretty much everyone around the draft.

 

But then again, you are right that QBs are always taken high. The point is not a criticism of Whaley or even Nix. They needed to take a shot because the team was desperate. But it's hardly some sort of shock that the kid is not any good. He was never highly touted, because if he was the same inflation rule would apply and he would have gone top 5.

 

EJ almost broke even against the 1-5 Jaguars who had the 30th ranked defense after he handed them 21 points.

 

Pardon me for not being impressed.

who did not see you swinging on that pitch.

 

Did not sound like hanover was yay or nay. just being a fan.

If Manuel has to play a again for us i will root for him. again.

hell i even root for Duke Williams and Bacarri Rambo.

they piss me off but i root for them when on the field. all we can do isn't it ?

[Hanoverbills]

 

You hear that all the time because it was said by pretty much everyone around the draft.

 

But then again, you are right that QBs are always taken high. The point is not a criticism of Whaley or even Nix. They needed to take a shot because the team was desperate. But it's hardly some sort of shock that the kid is not any good. He was never highly touted, because if he was the same inflation rule would apply and he would have gone top 5.

 

EJ almost broke even against the 1-5 Jaguars who had the 30th ranked defense after he handed them 21 points.

 

Pardon me for not being impressed.

19th in total defense

[jeffismagic]

 

You hear that all the time because it was said by pretty much everyone around the draft.

 

But then again, you are right that QBs are always taken high. The point is not a criticism of Whaley or even Nix. They needed to take a shot because the team was desperate. But it's hardly some sort of shock that the kid is not any good. He was never highly touted, because if he was the same inflation rule would apply and he would have gone top 5.

 

EJ almost broke even against the 1-5 Jaguars who had the 30th ranked defense after he handed them 21 points.

 

Pardon me for not being impressed.

 

I am not talking about you but most of the time when I hear the EJ was a third round talent I shake my head. The Bills draft board did not have him as a 3rd rounder that they drafted in the first round just to make their fans mad. And you don't have the draft boards of the other NFL teams.

 

EJ was thought of by casual fans as a 2nd rounder/3rd rounder 6-7 months before the draft. But just before the draft it was obvious that other NFL teams had him as a late 1st/early 2nd.

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000147694/article/mike-mayock-ej-manuel-secondbest-qb-in-nfl-draft

 

Mayock expected him to be drafted in the 1st round after talking to other NFL teams and scouts.

 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/0ap2000000152068/Mayock-evaluates-Manuel-s-pro-day

Edited October 26, 2015 by jeffismagic

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

He's a backup QB. Forget that he was a first rounder. He **** the bed for 2 minutes in the second then rebounded to have arguably the best half of his career. The overall numbers, 298 2/2 are not nearly so bad as everyone is implying. No deep threat receivers and no right side of the line btw. I about threw up in the 2nd, but he still only has a rookies worth of NFL experience. The man has tremendous talent and some of the throws he did make were very impressive. Hopefully we won't need him again this year but these two games were highly valuable experiences that he can build on in the future.

IMO that is because those that don't like EJ want to shout out that he sucks and that they were right.

 

queue harsh responses

Finally EJ didn't "lead us all the way back." He got within 4. Then the defense (which had stopped Jax on 4 plays from the 1) got a pick 6 to take the lead. When that same defense gave up a TD EJ was totally inept on the last drive to get the FG.

 

So the pick 6 counts for the Jags but not Buffalo?

 

This is the blind negativity that goes on here. Taylor is the starter, EJ the backup.

 

Quite a few people keep saying EJ isn't a starting QB, yet they keep complaining when EJ fails to play like an elite starting QB.

 

----------

If it were the end of EJ Rex would have benched him after the 3rd turnover.

Edited October 27, 2015 by BillsFan-4-Ever

[Hapless Bills Fan]

None of those things are problems if EJ doesn't put us in a hole early. No late game heroics from Blake. No 1 yard. No bad call.

 

This is true. But bad halves happen to QB and offenses sometimes, and at that point they either melt down or come back.

 

I seem to remember that TT threw an INT that, combined with some stupid penalties and additional poor TT play resulted in no offensive productivity and a deep hole against NE.

He gets (and deserves) a lot of credit for playing very much better in the 2nd half of that game, even though we never had a lead and he ultimately threw a bad pick (overthrow) to ice the game for the Pats

 

EJ is the backup QB. Did he play poorly in the first half? Yes. Did he play well enough for us to win in the 2nd half? Yes, we had a lead at one point. Protect it and you dot one in the "W" column.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Hopeful

[FireChan]

 

This is true. But bad halves happen to QB and offenses sometimes, and at that point they either melt down or come back.

 

I seem to remember that TT threw an INT that, combined with some stupid penalties and additional poor TT play resulted in no offensive productivity and a deep hole against NE.

He gets (and deserves) a lot of credit for playing very much better in the 2nd half of that game, even though we never had a lead.

 

EJ is the backup QB. Did he play poorly in the first half? Yes. Did he play well enough for us to win in the 2nd half? Yes, we had a lead at one point. Protect it and you dot one in the "W" column.

There's a difference between "not being able to get anything offensively," and what EJ did. Two TO's returned for TD's is absolutely worst case scenario, as a starter or back up. Not to mention a third TO right after on our 30?

 

It looked like he was trying to throw the game. Unacceptable. If he throws only 1 pick six, we win easy.

 

EJ played well enough in the second half to get us close. But it was also in part to our defense dominating the Jags in the second half. Goalline stuff 3 times? 4 consecutive three-and-outs, putting the offense on the field at the 50 4 times? A pick-six?

 

Bottom line, EJ lost us that game. Don't throw multiple TO's, 2 of them returned for TD's, on our own 20. That's not what you want in a backup. Bad halves or no, the score doesn't get washed away cause you were okay in the second half. Mistakes matter.

Edited October 27, 2015 by FireChan

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

when he is down by 9 to 16 points this year ( 2 games) he has completed 66.7% of his passes 7.3 yards and three tds. Of course if he played better the first half, we wouldn't be down that many points. I like EJ, but when he misses little dump off to shady, I shake my head. Yes he had costly turn overs, but he did bring us back to a point were we had a chance to win.

To reiterate EJ played bad in the 2nd QTR. He was not the only reason they Bills lost. Since you mentioned the dumpoff to shady I think it minor compared to the Shady fumble at the 1 yard line!!! . At minimum the Bills could have gotten a FG, @ the 1 maybe even a TD. Tie game or outright win.

Edited October 27, 2015 by BillsFan-4-Ever

[Bill from NYC]

EJ was never really supposed to be great.

 

He was seen by most executives as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. Even Nix was recorded saying it wasn't a good year to need a QB (i.e he didn't necessarily expect EJ to be great but needed to take who he thought had the most upside).

 

Good kid, hard worker, some decent physical skills. Worth taking a shot on given the other options in that draft and the team's desperate need for a QB.

 

Sadly, he is a terrible NFL QB. It's known.

 

But it's not some sort of surprise. EJ was not a highly touted prospect.

 

Finally EJ didn't "lead us all the way back." He got within 4. Then the defense (which had stopped Jax on 4 plays from the 1) got a pick 6 to take the lead. When that same defense gave up a TD EJ was totally inept on the last drive to get the FG.

 

The Jaguars were 1-5 and have the 30th ranked defense BTW.

The above is all true and it gets worse.

 

I have said over and over that if the Bills thought EJ was clearly the best qb in that draft, they would NOT have traded down 8 spots before selecting him. The draft doesn't work like that at the qb position.

 

Bet here, here is our dirty little Bills Family Secret. We don't even talk about this to ourselves. It's like the junkie or prostitute cousin we don't want others to know about. Ready?

 

Geno Smith is clearly superior to EJ. Someone will whip out stats and tell me I am wrong but I know what I see. And btw it isn't close.

 

EJ: Much nicer kid.

Geno: Clearly superior qb.

 

Sorry, but I felt the need to air it out.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Farewell EJ. We're going to miss that guy. He'll never play another down in the NFL. No one will ever pick him up. Hopefully he made enough in his rookie contract to take care of himself with his next career. i mean that sincerely as I have nothing against him personally and hope he is off to a good career in life, just not as a QB for the Buffalo Bills back up or otherwise.

 

Erm, have you looked around the league at some of the other stuff sitting on the bench as backup QB?