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

[H2o]

There is no defense for EJ. He makes the mistakes Tyrod does not

[Rico]

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.

[Big Gun]

But but but, EJ was great and had the bestest stats in the preseason.

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

the boy is maddeningly inconsistent and is not a pro starter or backup. He may be a #3. EJ consistently misses short throws that any NFL QB should make. Yeah he makes a few plays here and there, but not enough to overcome his blatant deficiencies. Don't get me wrong, he is a great kid and hard worker, but so is Tebow and neither of them are NFL starters.

[John from Riverside]

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.

The arguement TTT makes is that Tyrod is a veteran of the NFL coming into Buffalo

 

It does not matter that he hasnt been a starter or even gotten much real live bullets playing time during those years because he sat behind a franchise QB that never comes off the field.......he should have all this live experience simply because he has been on a NFL roster

 

Its a flawed argument.....

[TakeYouToTasker]

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.

You aren't actually reading what I wrote.

 

You're right: Tyrod Taylor is better, perhaps even by leaps and bounds, than EJ Manuel. I'll repeat that so it sinks in.

 

Tyrod Taylor is better than EJ Manuel.

 

But here's the thing: that doesn't matter because all we're talking about here is who sucks less. Neither of them are any good. Period.

 

Tyrod gets us to 6-10, EJ gets us to 3-13.

 

I couldn't care less where either was drafted. Tyrod is in his 5th season in this league. That's 5 years of preparing to play as the starter, 5 years of camps, 5 years of NFL positional coaching most of which happened in one of the games best franchises. Tyrod is near or at his ceiling. The game has long since slowed down for him, yet still can't read defenses, get through progressions, extend plays in the pocket, or get first downs.

 

Again, I'm not suggesting that EJ Manuel is any better. I feel it's safe to say that he's worse at this point; yet that doesn't somehow make Tyrod good. It just means he's less terrible. The lesser of two evils.

 

So congratulations. EJ is as bad as you thought. Because he is as bad as you thought, we have no quarterbacks capable of leading this team to the playoffs on the roster.

 

That must make you quite happy.

Edited October 26, 2015 by TakeYouToTasker

[KOKBILLS]

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

I don't know... Maybe I'm missing something but I don't remember many people openly hoping for TT to fail... There's always a couple idiots... But most Bills fans, even EJ supporters, are behind TT 100%...

[gr8billsfan]

Sure he screwed up but it wasn't EJs fault 100%. Poor play calls and also everyone was covered on several plays that mattered. Whether a short 2nd or a 3rd down.

 

He did well! He led the team to a comeback. But Corey Graham sealed our win. They just had to last one more drive. Unfortunately we all know the outcome or there would be "Will EJ take the #1 spot?" Threads.

Edited October 26, 2015 by gr8billsfan

[TakeYouToTasker]

I don't know... Maybe I'm missing something but I don't remember many people openly hoping for TT to fail... There's always a couple idiots... But most Bills fans, even EJ supporters, are behind TT 100%...

You don't remember it because it didn't happen.

 

No one wanted/wants Tyrod to fail.

 

Many of us simply recognize that he's a lousy quarterback, and hoped that EJ might have turned a corner. Unfortunately EJ didn't. Tyrod, as bad as he is, is the best player at his position on the roster. And that's why we finish 6-10 this year.

[John from Riverside]

You don't remember it because it didn't happen.

 

No one wanted/wants Tyrod to fail.

 

Many of us simply recognize that he's a lousy quarterback, and hoped that EJ might have turned a corner. Unfortunately EJ didn't. Tyrod, as bad as he is, is the best player at his position on the roster. And that's why we finish 6-10 this year.

You do realize that is a just rewording of "I hope Tyrod Taylor fails so that I am right" dont you?

 

No poster except maybe a troll poster is gonna come right and and say "I really hope our starting qb fails"

[TakeYouToTasker]

You do realize that is a just rewording of "I hope Tyrod Taylor fails so that I am right" dont you?

 

No poster except maybe a troll poster is gonna come right and and say "I really hope our starting qb fails"

You're projecting.

 

I'd be thrilled if we had "The Guy" on our roster, because it would be nice to have a reasonable expectation of playing some meaningful football towards the end of the season.

 

Unfortunately I recognize that we have no chance of that.

[Webster Guy]

Tyrod needs at least a full season to develop. Even though it is his 5th year in the league, he hasnt played much. The dude needs to get a thousand more snaps under center tjis year and a full offseason, training camp, and go into next season as the clearcut starter.

 

Only then can you tell what you have.

[John from Riverside]

You're projecting.

 

I'd be thrilled if we had "The Guy" on our roster, because it would be nice to have a reasonable expectation of playing some meaningful football towards the end of the season.

 

Unfortunately I recognize that we have no chance of that.

If you really mean that then you should wait on these predictions

 

- No new QB is coming in prior to that

- Tyrod deserves the time to prove you wrong

[TakeYouToTasker]

If you really mean that then you should wait on these predictions

 

- No new QB is coming in prior to that

- Tyrod deserves the time to prove you wrong

I should pretend that Tyrod is better than he is because I want the Bills to win?

 

While I'm at it, should I also pretend that it's December 24th because Christmas morning is my favorite time of year?

 

And should I pretend to have 20 million dollars, because I'd like to be wealthy and retired by 40?

[Beerball]

You do realize that is a just rewording of "I hope Tyrod Taylor fails so that I am right" dont you?

 

No poster except maybe a troll poster is gonna come right and and say "I really hope our starting qb fails"

It's not even close to that unless you are wearing polarized rose colored glasses.

[Bookie Man]

We're on to ____ (insert team name here).

That should be the slogan for the season.

[John from Riverside]

I should pretend that Tyrod is better than he is because I want the Bills to win?

 

While I'm at it, should I also pretend that it's December 24th because Christmas morning is my favorite time of year?

 

And should I pretend to have 20 million dollars, because I'd like to be wealthy and retired by 40?

the problem is you DONT know that

 

You dont...you might have an opinion that your projecting but imo there TT has not played enough games to make these definative statements.

[Felonious Monk]

He's a Bill and I'll continue to root for him as long as that's the case. But on Sunday, the word "bust" came to mind far more frequently than usual.

 

Edit: It's Monday and this hasn't changed.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Felonious Monk

[TakeYouToTasker]

the problem is you DONT know that

 

You dont...you might have an opinion that your projecting but imo there TT has not played enough games to make these definative statements.

You don't think I do, but I've seen enough that I'm more than comfortable with the evaluation given Tyrod's time in the league.

 

In Tyrod's 5th year in the league; after 5 years of film study, camps, development, positional coaching, and practice, I'd expect him to be able to read a defense pre-snap, get through progressions, change protection and play calls at the LOS, hit open receivers in space, make hot reads, have composure in the pocket, and not run into sacks.

 

But he can't. He's limited, and limited doesn't win in the NFL. That's all there is to it.

[John from Riverside]

You don't think I do, but I've seen enough that I'm more than comfortable with the evaluation given Tyrod's time in the league.

 

In Tyrod's 5th year in the league; after 5 years of film study, camps, development, positional coaching, and practice, I'd expect him to be able to read a defense pre-snap, get through progressions, change protection and play calls at the LOS, hit open receivers in space, make hot reads, have composure in the pocket, and not run into sacks.

 

But he can't. He's limited, and limited doesn't win in the NFL. That's all there is to it.

I did not realize you have been with the coaches at ravens and bills camp

 

My bad