EJ Manuel Reflects On His Career As The Bills Future QB

[Phil The Thrill]

If you haven’t checked out Eric Wood’s interview with EJ Manuel yet, it’s a good listen for any Bills fan.  

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=68066663&autoplay=1

 

I’ll say this - EJ sounds like a great guy.  He was very positive about Buffalo, though you sense he feels thing would’ve turned out better in a different situation.  He says his career didn’t work out but believes it happened for a reason and he thinks his story can help others.  
 

Some interesting notes:

 

- He said the Doug Whaley/Buddy Nix plan was always to start Kevin Kolb and have EJ learn from him (bad idea).  One Kolb got hurt he had no one to learn from since Jeff Tuel (and later Thad Lewis) were inexperienced QB’s, so Wood was the player who tried to mention him at QB!

 

- After his in-season injury in 2013 he was privately tutored by legendary OC Paul Hackett (Nate’s dad) on reading defenses.

 

- EJ said his confidence was shaken after the infamous JJ Watt pick six.  Seantrel didn’t cut Watt resulting in the pick, but he said he takes the blame.   Doug Marrone sat him down and said he was their guy but they wanted him to take a step back and watch Kyle Orton play.

 

- He thought that Rex was trying to “bring in his own guys” at QB and felt he earned his roster spot with his preseason play.  Dressing as an inactive QB hurt his confidence and relationship with Buffalo and said he didn’t play well in the Jets finale in 2016, because his confidence was completely shot.  
 

- EJ said he did well in Oakland under Jack Del Rio.  When Gruden came in, he felt he wanted Conner Cook to be the backup.  While he played well in the preseason, Gruden cut him and he spent the rest of 2018 trying to get a job....it never happened.

 

- Oddly enough this year, he got a call from Andy Reid about backing up Patrick Mahomes once Chad Henne went down.  I think he said KC said “thanks but no thank,” and then later said he was beginning his job at the SEC Network and didn’t want to come back.  

Like I said, he seemed positive and excited about his broadcasting career, but I also sensed some disappointment over how his NFL career ended.  If you think about it, he went from 1st round draft pick to street FA with no offers in less than 6 months.  
 

So do you think EJ’s was a victim was a happenstance?

 

Or was he an over drafted QB with a limited ceiling?  I’m thinking it was more of the later, but it hard to listen to this interview and not like the guy personally.  

[Rico]

Should've gone to the Chiefs, he would've had a ring like Rob Johnson.

[Bangarang]

EJ isn’t a victim, he’s just a crap QB. 
 

He got his shot and made a good chunk of money. If he’s happy doing what he’s doing now then good for him.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Bangarang

[T master]

EJ was always a pro Bills type player & like our QB now had a lot of the same type of things said about him as they were said about Josh but unlike Josh had way to many coaching changes & support from those coaches to further his career in a positive way !

 

Josh & EJ were both athletic QB's with a good arm but their accuracy had issues but i think that Josh is in a much better position due to the stability McBeane & company have brought to the team . 

 

If Josh was in the same situation as EJ i think his future could very much resemble that of EJ's & other QB's that the Bills have brought in over the years .

[JaCrispy]

EJ’s throwing motion looked like a girl trying to throw a football for the first time...I would say that was his biggest downfall- throwing like a b!+<#...?

Edited April 17, 2020 by JaCrispy

[FireChans]

There goes the narrative that he could “still be in the league but doesn’t want to be.”

[Phil The Thrill]

2 minutes ago, T master said:

EJ was always a pro Bills type player & like our QB now had a lot of the same type of things said about him as they were said about Josh but unlike Josh had way to many coaching changes & support from those coaches to further his career in a positive way !

 

Josh & EJ were both athletic QB's with a good arm but their accuracy had issues but i think that Josh is in a much better position due to the stability McBeane & company have brought to the team . 

 

If Josh was in the same situation as EJ i think his future could very much resemble that of EJ's & other QB's that the Bills have brought in over the years .

While there are similarities, I think that Josh’s athleticism was a lot higher than EJ’s.  He also made some outstanding throws that I don’t believe EJ could ever make.

 

It seems to me that NFL analysts and coaches always get Allen had a much higher ceiling and potential which is why he was a unanimous first round projects.  EJ was projected as low as a 4th rounder.  
 

Would consistency help EJ?  Probably, but the question would still be whether he’s good enough to be the Bills unquestioned starter.... I’m not sure if he was that guy 

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

There goes the narrative that he could “still be in the league but doesn’t want to be.”

Oh I’m not defending him.  I do think there’s something to the fact that he’s out of the NFL after 6 seasons.  There’s probably a reason few teams have taken the time to kick the tires

[cage]

I'm not sure how difficult this would be, but I'd love to see some study that examines the affect of team culture, coaching, situation on QBs (lets just say 1st rounders).  There's a 50% bust rate, even in top 10 pics and you have wonder about some of these situations.  Would Manuel have done better elsewhere?  Would we have ruined Patrick Mahomes?  Or never played Brady if we had picked him in the 6th round?

[FireChans]

4 minutes ago, cage said:

I'm not sure how difficult this would be, but I'd love to see some study that examines the affect of team culture, coaching, situation on QBs (lets just say 1st rounders).  There's a 50% bust rate, even in top 10 pics and you have wonder about some of these situations.  Would Manuel have done better elsewhere?  Would we have ruined Patrick Mahomes?  Or never played Brady if we had picked him in the 6th round?

Mahomes and Brady would have been great anywhere. Manuel would have been a more successful bust in a different system.

[dbfla10]

5 minutes ago, cage said:

I'm not sure how difficult this would be, but I'd love to see some study that examines the affect of team culture, coaching, situation on QBs (lets just say 1st rounders).  There's a 50% bust rate, even in top 10 pics and you have wonder about some of these situations.  Would Manuel have done better elsewhere?  Would we have ruined Patrick Mahomes?  Or never played Brady if we had picked him in the 6th round?

 

I believe culture says a lot, especially at the QB position. EJ would've been better off sitting a yr or 2 behind a guy like Fitzpatrick. Not saying he would've been a stud, but would've had a better career IMO... Losing your confidence is killer. You start thinking to much, and not trusting what you see. Last thing a qb can do is second guess... I was a pro EJ guys and wanted it to work out. 

[MrEpsYtown]

Eh, we all know he was overdrafted, but he was terrible and all he did was regress. When coaches doubted him, you would thing he would push harder. A professional athlete without confidence is useless. He also probably should have started to learn to read defenses before half way through his rookie season. 

[T master]

18 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

While there are similarities, I think that Josh’s athleticism was a lot higher than EJ’s.  He also made some outstanding throws that I don’t believe EJ could ever make.

 

It seems to me that NFL analysts and coaches always get Allen had a much higher ceiling and potential which is why he was a unanimous first round projects.  EJ was projected as low as a 4th rounder.  
 

Would consistency help EJ?  Probably, but the question would still be whether he’s good enough to be the Bills unquestioned starter.... I’m not sure if he was that guy 

Oh I’m not defending him.  I do think there’s something to the fact that he’s out of the NFL after 6 seasons.  There’s probably a reason few teams have taken the time to kick the tires

 

I totally agree that EJ shouldn't have been taken where he was he was not a 1st round QB & because the Bills fan base was starved for a QB put a lot of expectations on him .

 

 i do think he could have benefitted from more stability but i don't think he was as good as Josh as far as talent but he was a team guy & when he got here you could tell he was excited to be a Bill unlike some other 1st round Bills picks !

[FireChans]

3 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Eh, we all know he was overdrafted, but he was terrible and all he did was regress. When coaches doubted him, you would thing he would push harder. A professional athlete without confidence is useless. He also probably should have started to learn to read defenses before half way through his rookie season. 

When your first two games are your best two games, you’re *****.

[Lurker]

Great guy, lousy QB.   

 

Over the course of a lifetime, it's better to be the former than the later.   Best of luck with the broadcasting career...

[IgotBILLStopay]

EJ had the physical tools. He had all the throws. I had 3 problems with him:

 

1. He got rattled easily (the interview shows that). You never want the confidence shaken. That whole Fantex initiative, while smart for the player monetarily, screamed to me that he was not sure of his own abilities / earnings and was trying to hedge his bets.

2. He was a bit slow with his reads. 

3. Most importantly, he was not a gamer - not a competitor like Allen. Allen wants it - could never see it in Manuel.

 

While 2 was fixable with more gametime reps, ultimately 1 and 3 do appear a bit innate.

 

That being said, I would have liked to have seen him throw to Sammy more - I felt they were developing a connection. Marrone never believed in EJ and hated the Sammy trade up because he wanted that 2015 first rounder for a QB. Combine Marrone's position with the  EJ shortcoming #1 above - and one can see that EJ was set up for failure.

[C.Biscuit97]

39 minutes ago, FireChans said:

There goes the narrative that he could “still be in the league but doesn’t want to be.”

He was on the Chiefs last spring, retired,and got a job in tv.

[wvbillsfan]

Sounds like a lot of “it wasn’t my fault”. 
A Qb needs to take responsibility not only for his actions but the actions of his teammates. 
It just seems like EJ didn’t have the mental makeup to be an nfl qb. 

[C.Biscuit97]

43 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

EJ’s throwing motion looked like a girl trying to throw a football for the first time...I would say that was his biggest downfall- throwing like a b!+<#...?

The funniest thing is he had a really strong arm.  I always thought he was too nice and tried to do exactly what his coaches told him but to a fault.  

[inthebuff]

I'm not defending EJ.  Just pointing out some things...

The guys like EJ do not get the coaching that they need to even get to be good, much less great.  EJ had such great QB whisperers as Doug Marrone and Rex Ryan as his HC.  Marrone brought with  him the wrong Hacket as OC.  The guys who get drafted and are developed by legendary coaches will almost always turn out great.  The system may fit their skill set or the coach sees something that others don't.    Examples - Joe Montana was a 3rd round pick, drafted by Bill Walsh, one of the greatest of all time.  We know all about Brady/Belichick.  Brett Favre was a 2nd round pick of the Falcons who was traded to the Packers and then schooled by Mike Holmgren.   Even Mahomes was not perceived to be great coming out of college as evidenced by being drafted overall #10.   

 

Would EJ have been much better under their tutelage?  Or like some here say...he'd still be a bust.  It's really difficult to say.   

Edited April 17, 2020 by inthebuff

[C.Biscuit97]

8 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Great guy, lousy QB.   

 

Over the course of a lifetime, it's better to be the former than the later.   Best of luck with the broadcasting career...

Right now, Allen has one point higher career qb rating than EJ.  Just saying.  And there have been way worse Bills qb.  Matt Barkley is currently on the roster.