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

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

I've officially transitioned to being annoyed every time I watch Cam Newton play... It's a combination of dashed hope that EJ could have evolved be that good, combined with the realization Thad Lewis is actually far better.... #ihatemyfanhood

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

Why wouldn't a fan support a player on the team they support? This idea that supporting EJ is somehow wrong is ridiculous. He's playing backup level currently. He's our backup. If there's another backup that's better, and available, and we want to swallow the cost of swapping out, I'm sure we'll do it. But until then, when our starter goes down, EJ's the next guy up. It's not like Cassel has shown anything promising this year.

Pretty safe to say that some of the EJ support went way above a normal fan. Trashing and or hoping TT would fail is not the trait of a good fan.IMO

[metzelaars_lives]

Pretty safe to say that some of the EJ support went way above a normal fan. Trashing and or hoping TT would fail is not the trait of a good fan.IMO

Exactly. And there has been a surprising/disappointing amount of that around here.

Edited October 26, 2015 by metzelaars_lives

[GG]

Exactly. And there has been a surprising/disappointing amount of that around here.

I think that contingent believes that EJ beat out Tyrod in training camp, and it was only Rex's stubbornness that gave Tyrod the job.

[metzelaars_lives]

I think that contingent believes that EJ beat out Tyrod in training camp, and it was only Rex's stubbornness that gave Tyrod the job.

But he didn't! They are delusional to think that! It was not a tough decision for the coaches whatsoever. Taylor seized the job fair and square. Sorry if all some of you see is a few quarters against vanilla defenses. They practice for hours and hours for weeks and weeks!

[GG]

But he didn't! They are delusional to think that! It was not a tough decision for the coaches whatsoever. Taylor seized the job fair and square. Sorry if all some of you see is a few quarters against vanilla defenses. They practice for hours and hours for weeks and weeks!

What can I say?

[Rico]

Don't forget the media conspiracy.

[metzelaars_lives]

Don't forget the media conspiracy.

Oh like Schopp and Bulldog have it out for EJ? Yeah I know everyone hates Schopp and the Bulldog round these parts but THEY were right and YOU (not you) were wrong. They weren't "haters," they could just see what most of us have seen all along. That's it.

[Dorkington]

Of course I support EJ! I was rooting for the Bills as loudly and passionately today as I ever have. The TD pass to Easley was a freaking dime. But when you come on this site or call into WGR and tell everyone that Manuel is an upgrade, verdict's in: Taylor sucks, EJ might still have it, etc., you are no longer thinking rationally, you are operating off of a bias. Plain and simple. And I would certainly argue that those people are not "supporting" Tyrod Taylor. I hope they come around.

 

And Ryan L. Billz loves to point out "well Taylor sucked in the first half against NYG and Ten." OK, yes he did. Without McCoy or Watkins, but yes he did. Not sure how old you are but do you have any idea how many horrendous halves of football Jim Kelly played?? But I'll tell ya one thing- Manuel has never SNIFFED Taylor at his best. I am very much looking forward to seeing him develop further.

Ah, yeah, Tyrod is way too new to make such statements, imo. He's certainly shown some flashes, and then other concerns, it'll be interesting to see how he does once he comes back and through the rest of the season, as teams gameplan for him, and as he grows (or not) into the position.

 

In pre-season I was optimistic one of the two would work out really well. Now I'm luke warm on Tyrod, and my feelings about EJ are he's a backup, and most likely will be, unless something clicks before the end of his contract here. All the people saying he'll be out of the league are insane though.

[PromoTheRobot]

It's over. Give it up.

[metzelaars_lives]

It's over. Give it up.

Umm, best avatar ever?

[billsfan_34]

Had the defense stopped the Jags from scoring, the headlines would read:

 

EJ overcomes worst half of career to lead Bills to comeback win.

 

HE DID THAT! (except for the win). He put that pathetic first half meltdown that should have had him put under the end of the bench behind him and turned it around in the second half and brought this team back from 24 down (with help from Corey Graham's pick 6) to put the Bills in position to win. It was up to the defense to close it out, and they couldn't deliver (That BS call on Robey didn't help).

 

He got the ball back and was moving the team again to tie or win the game until some questionable play calls derailed the drive.

 

1) Why not give the ball to Shady to get that yard we needed?

2) Why would a 'ground and pound' offense roll EJ to the left to pass (he's a right handed passer) on a critical 4th and 1 instead of ramming it down the Jags throat with a str8 line power run? We had time, 2 plays to get 1 yard, and time outs to work with?

 

He came through and got this team back in the game despite how bad he sucked, swallowed, and all but choked on it in the first half. Give him that much credit while we hope TT and the rest of our walking wounded heal up soon before we start hearing the circling the drain sound on our season.

 

He made of for his first half performance and came through for the team in the end, the team (and coaches) didn't come through for him after we took the lead.

EJ fumbled at the end and was the direct cause of 4 turnovers. 1 other fumble was recovered. And did you see his QB sneak for that yard? It was really bad. And some of his passes that skip off the turf or are at the feet drive me mad. He isnt an NFL QB - I wish he was because hes a good kid and works hard too. Oh, and a cannon for an arm yet isnt accurate and cant make all the throws.

[Orlando Buffalo]

My fear with EJ is he will pull a drew brees/Rich Gannon on us. Brees was benched for a 40+ year old Flutie and ran out of San Diego got offered one starting postion with a good coach on a crap team in NO and now has a ring. EJ has a ton of talent but looks lost too often and was clearly the worst Bill today but I always have hope for guys who work hard.

[dayman]

yeah, you said it

[John from Riverside]

Of course I support EJ! I was rooting for the Bills as loudly and passionately today as I ever have. The TD pass to Easley was a freaking dime. But when you come on this site or call into WGR and tell everyone that Manuel is an upgrade, verdict's in: Taylor sucks, EJ might still have it, etc., you are no longer thinking rationally, you are operating off of a bias. Plain and simple. And I would certainly argue that those people are not "supporting" Tyrod Taylor. I hope they come around.

 

And Ryan L. Billz loves to point out "well Taylor sucked in the first half against NYG and Ten." OK, yes he did. Without McCoy or Watkins, but yes he did. Not sure how old you are but do you have any idea how many horrendous halves of football Jim Kelly played?? But I'll tell ya one thing- Manuel has never SNIFFED Taylor at his best. I am very much looking forward to seeing him develop further.

To me the bigger concern is who plays BEHIND Tyrod Taylor going forward and into the future (past this year)

 

Tyrod Taylor has frankly shown more "IT" then EJ Manuel has......while he is not YET your consistant pocket passer....one thing that is a very good FOOTBALL PLAYER.....

 

but

 

Tyrod also plays a style of football that while I think he will continue to improve as he reaches his ceiling....he will always have problems betting dinged up with his style of play......its going to happen.....we should EXPECT it to happen much like Vick would miss games due to his style of play.

 

so

 

We need a QB behind him.....not EJ Manuel....not Matt Cassel......a guy that can come in and look good for 2 to 3 games a year.

 

I DONT want to spend my 1st round pick on that guy.......this team has other needs.....

 

Another Kiko Alonzo type linebacker

 

Offensive Linemen

 

A safety/corner that can actually bounce back and forth between the positions so that there is not this huge drop off if Graham or Williams get dinged

[Best Player Available]

To me the bigger concern is who plays BEHIND Tyrod Taylor going forward and into the future (past this year)

 

Tyrod Taylor has frankly shown more "IT" then EJ Manuel has......while he is not YET your consistant pocket passer....one thing that is a very good FOOTBALL PLAYER.....

 

but

 

Tyrod also plays a style of football that while I think he will continue to improve as he reaches his ceiling....he will always have problems betting dinged up with his style of play......its going to happen.....we should EXPECT it to happen much like Vick would miss games due to his style of play.

 

so

 

We need a QB behind him.....not EJ Manuel....not Matt Cassel......a guy that can come in and look good for 2 to 3 games a year.

 

I DONT want to spend my 1st round pick on that guy.......this team has other needs.....

 

Another Kiko Alonzo type linebacker

 

Offensive Linemen

 

A safety/corner that can actually bounce back and forth between the positions so that there is not this huge drop off if Graham or Williams get dinged

A kicker that can both kickoff and hit field goals/ extra points. 2 roster spots not needed.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Keep self deluding yourself.

[TakeYouToTasker]

Pretty safe to say that some of the EJ support went way above a normal fan. Trashing and or hoping TT would fail is not the trait of a good fan.IMO

Tyrod Taylor is a lousy quarterback in his 5th year in the league. He has lousy pocket presence, is unable to read the field and get through progressions, and locks on to receivers. He leads the entire NFL in percentage of drives ending in 3 and outs. He is, quite clearly, not the answer at quarterback; unless of course the question is: who will lead the Bills to a 6-10 record.

 

That's the reason myself and others wanted to see what EJ might have developed into in year 3, which is when quarterbacks usually take some forward strides in their play. EJ looked to have taken strides as a pocket passer given his game performances in the pre-season. As poorly as Tyrod has been, a developed EJ was our best hope for making the playoffs.

 

Well, guess what? EJ hasn't developed as we had hoped. Last week he played poorly, and this week he was downright awful.

 

But you know what else? That's the worst possible outcome, because EJ Manuel turning the corner was the last best hope for this franchise in 2015, and now that we conclusively know that he hasn't, and that he's actually somehow worse than Tyrod, we know that our season is over.

 

Furthermore, we know that this entire team construction, with this dominate defensive line, and amazing array of weapons at the skilled positions on offense won't go to the playoffs. We have to go back into the draft, and start from scratch, and begin the whole process of trying to find "The Guy" again. The next 3-5 years are going to be nothing but rebuilding. Hell it may be longer than that, because we'll be a 6-10 team this year and for the next few years as well. Bad enough to make us all miserable, but too good to get us to the top of the draft to get "The Guy".

 

We're going to get to 20 years without sniffing the playoffs.

 

Enjoy it.

[John from Riverside]

Tyrod Taylor is a lousy quarterback in his 5th year in the league. He has lousy pocket presence, is unable to read the field and get through progressions, and locks on to receivers. He leads the entire NFL in percentage of drives ending in 3 and outs. He is, quite clearly, not the answer at quarterback; unless of course the question is: who will lead the Bills to a 6-10 record.

 

That's the reason myself and others wanted to see what EJ might have developed into in year 3, which is when quarterbacks usually take some forward strides in their play. EJ looked to have taken strides as a pocket passer given his game performances in the pre-season. As poorly as Tyrod has been, a developed EJ was our best hope for making the playoffs.

 

Well, guess what? EJ hasn't developed as we had hoped. Last week he played poorly, and this week he was downright awful.

 

But you know what else? That's the worst possible outcome, because EJ Manuel turning the corner was the last best hope for this franchise in 2015, and now that we conclusively know that he hasn't, and that he's actually somehow worse than Tyrod, we know that our season is over.

 

Furthermore, we know that this entire team construction, with this dominate defensive line, and amazing array of weapons at the skilled positions on offense won't go to the playoffs. We have to go back into the draft, and start from scratch, and begin the whole process of trying to find "The Guy" again. The next 3-5 years are going to be nothing but rebuilding. Hell it may be longer than that, because we'll be a 6-10 team this year and for the next few years as well. Bad enough to make us all miserable, but too good to get us to the top of the draft to get "The Guy".

 

We're going to get to 20 years without sniffing the playoffs.

 

Enjoy it.

No

[metzelaars_lives]

Tyrod Taylor is a lousy quarterback in his 5th year in the league. He has lousy pocket presence, is unable to read the field and get through progressions, and locks on to receivers. He leads the entire NFL in percentage of drives ending in 3 and outs. He is, quite clearly, not the answer at quarterback; unless of course the question is: who will lead the Bills to a 6-10 record.

 

That's the reason myself and others wanted to see what EJ might have developed into in year 3, which is when quarterbacks usually take some forward strides in their play. EJ looked to have taken strides as a pocket passer given his game performances in the pre-season. As poorly as Tyrod has been, a developed EJ was our best hope for making the playoffs.

 

Well, guess what? EJ hasn't developed as we had hoped. Last week he played poorly, and this week he was downright awful.

 

But you know what else? That's the worst possible outcome, because EJ Manuel turning the corner was the last best hope for this franchise in 2015, and now that we conclusively know that he hasn't, and that he's actually somehow worse than Tyrod, we know that our season is over.

 

Furthermore, we know that this entire team construction, with this dominate defensive line, and amazing array of weapons at the skilled positions on offense won't go to the playoffs. We have to go back into the draft, and start from scratch, and begin the whole process of trying to find "The Guy" again. The next 3-5 years are going to be nothing but rebuilding. Hell it may be longer than that, because we'll be a 6-10 team this year and for the next few years as well. Bad enough to make us all miserable, but too good to get us to the top of the draft to get "The Guy".

 

We're going to get to 20 years without sniffing the playoffs.

 

Enjoy it.

I mean there ya have it folks. I told you these guys exist. I don't even know if you're serious at this point.

 

For starters, the stuff you say about Taylor in your first paragraph- you couldn't do a better job of describing EJ Manuel! Taylor is already better at everything you alluded to after five games (don't care how many seasons he's been in the league, it means nothing) than EJ was after last week. Yet after last week, the verdict is already in on a guy who, after five games has already shown way more than Manuel has ever come close to showing- better numbers ta boot- and meanwhile, the jury was still out on a guy who completely sucks after 15 games. Why? Because Taylor was a sixth round pick and Manuel was a first round pick? That's the only logical explanation I can possibly come up with. Tom Brady was a 6th round pick and Jim Druckenmiller was a 1st round pick. Who cares? If Manuel was drafted in the 3rd/4th round where he should have been, would you feel different about him? No one watching these two men play football this season could possibly deduce that Manuel is a better QB or has the potential to be a better QB- whatever you wanna say. It's an insane point of view to possess.

 

And P.S. if we roll out Taylor, a healthy McCoy and a healthy Watkins each week, the Bills are 5-2. No doubt in my mind.

Edited October 26, 2015 by metzelaars_lives