EJ Manuel Reflects On His Career As The Bills Future QB

[Mr. WEO]

He was weak and stupid...

 

[Gugny]

3 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

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.  

 

It's no secret that I was a huge EJ fan/supporter.

 

I still maintain that he was a better QB than Tyrod.  I still maintain he looked better than Tyrod in practices.   I still maintain that he looked better than Tyrod in preseason.  And I still maintain that the rotten piece of ***** ***** who is Rex Ryan had his simple little mind made up the day he stupidly went out and got Taylor.

 

Was EJ a good QB when it was all said and done?  No.  He certainly was not.

 

But he couldn't have been drafted into a shittier situation if he tried; the Bills were an absolute mess.  And he was/could have been better than that a-hole, Tyrod ever dreamed of being.

 

 

[Rico]

5 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

It's no secret that I was a huge EJ fan/supporter.

 

I still maintain that he was a better QB than Tyrod.  I still maintain he looked better than Tyrod in practices.   I still maintain that he looked better than Tyrod in preseason.  And I still maintain that the rotten piece of ***** ***** who is Rex Ryan had his simple little mind made up the day he stupidly went out and got Taylor.

 

Was EJ a good QB when it was all said and done?  No.  He certainly was not.

 

But he couldn't have been drafted into a shittier situation if he tried; the Bills were an absolute mess.  And he was/could have been better than that a-hole, Tyrod ever dreamed of being.

 

 

Could've, would've, should've...

[LABILLBACKER]

He just didn't pass the eye test. That 2nd quarter in London against the Jags might be the worst 15 minutes of qb play in Bills history. It was a reach pick and I'm skeptical EJ would've succeeded anywhere. But the fact he couldn't sit for a year or 2 behind a vet did hurt him. At least with Josh we've seen an athletic "moxy" we never saw from EJ.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

It's amazing how bad that draft was for QB's. EJ was the only one taken in the entire first round I think? And not taking till #16 AFTER we traded down from #8. That should have told us everything about how much even those making the decisions thought of EJ. You don't take a chance on missing a QB you really like over 8 draft spots.

 

Amazing that pretty much all the team including the Bills to a degree since they traded back to get EJ, were spot on with the draft being low on QB talent. Has there been a draft since without even 2 QB's going in the top 10? Hard to imagine in today's hyped up QB prospect world only 1 QB going in the first round and none in the top 10.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Sammy Watkins' Rib

[Troll Toll]

He was on a stacked Florida State team and couldn’t seem to throw for 300 yards in a game. 
 

He turned out the same in the pros.

 

I’m fully on board with Josh btw. I don’t want to give the wrong impression with the 300 yard comment.

1 minute ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

It's amazing how bad that draft was for QB's. EJ was the only one taken in the entire first round I think? And not taking till #16 AFTER we traded down from #8. That should have told us everything about how much even those making the decisions thought of EJ. You don't take a chance on missing a QB you really like over 8 draft spots.

 

Amazing that pretty much all the team including the Bills to a degree since they traded back to get EJ, were spot on with the draft being low on QB talent. Has there been a draft since without even 2 QB's going in the top 10? Hard to imagine in today's hyped up QB prospect world only 1 QB going in the first round and none in the top 10.

It was like a car crash you couldn’t look away from. Chan kept refusing to draft a guy to replace Fitz. Then the Bills committed to drafting a QB in the first long before the draft, only to have an epically bad QB class at their feet. We KNEW they were going to draft an awful QB in the first and there was nothing we could do.

[Orlando Buffalo]

1 hour ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

 

He would not have turned out better in a different situation.  When you can't throw and have no feel for the game, you're simply bad.

The issue I have with this kind of comment is that EJ had his best 4 games in his first 4 games. He was never put into a situation to improve and the offense was never tailored to him at all. We might be better off in his failing so badly but he was never given a chance.

[JaCrispy]

5 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

It's amazing how bad that draft was for QB's. EJ was the only one taken in the entire first round I think? And not taking till #16 AFTER we traded down from #8. That should have told us everything about how much even those making the decisions thought of EJ. You don't take a chance on missing a QB you really like over 8 draft spots.

 

Amazing that pretty much all the team including the Bills to a degree since they traded back to get EJ, were spot on with the draft being low on QB talent. Has there been a draft since without even 2 QB's going in the top 10? Hard to imagine in today's hyped up QB prospect world only 1 QB going in the first round and none in the top 10.

Not only that, But Nix actually admitted they were tempted to trade down AGAIN!!! ?‍♂️
 

But THAT was the QB they had to have leading the franchise...ahhh, such dysfunctional times...thank you, baby Jesus, for our new and improved FO! ?

[TroutDog]

4 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

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

Yes. ? 

[Mr. WEO]

36 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

It's no secret that I was a huge EJ fan/supporter.

 

I still maintain that he was a better QB than Tyrod.  I still maintain he looked better than Tyrod in practices.   I still maintain that he looked better than Tyrod in preseason.  And I still maintain that the rotten piece of ***** ***** who is Rex Ryan had his simple little mind made up the day he stupidly went out and got Taylor.

 

Was EJ a good QB when it was all said and done?  No.  He certainly was not.

 

But he couldn't have been drafted into a shittier situation if he tried; the Bills were an absolute mess.  And he was/could have been better than that a-hole, Tyrod ever dreamed of being.

 

 

 

But he looked best in that Bills cap on the sideline...

 

Orton was a better QB off his couch.  

 

Fitz was tons better, but Buddy Cornpone thought he was too pricey.

 

EJ was the tiniest dirty bubble in the giant bathtub of the NFL.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Part of the issue is people judge EJ too harshly. He was a specialist. He did his two specialities brilliantly too, I might add: 

 

1) QB sneaks

2) Hard counts. 

[TroutDog]

2 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

EJ was a failed pick and for that Whaley and Nix deserve a lot of blame.

Nix was checked out after that pick. He said he’d draft a QB and he did...even though it was four rounds too early. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

1 hour ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Wait...Russ lives on Canandaigua Lake?

 

...yup...wife is in Buffalo...........

[Aussie Joe]

3 hours ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Right now, Allen has one point higher career qb rating than EJ.  Just saying.  

Im not sure what you are saying?

 

Can you expand please?

 

I’m assuming you are not comparing E.J. to Allen and implying they are somehow close to equal..

 

 

[purple haze]

4 hours ago, FireChans said:

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

Brady was in the right place at the right time. If not for Mo Lewis he might never have seen the field.  He was a game manager for a bit too when he got his shot.  He is the GOAT, but I don't know he would have been that elsewhere.  And Mahomes wound up with the perfect coach, although he would have flashed anywhere.

[Augie]

5 hours 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!+<#...?

 

His slide looked like a giraffe trying it for the first time! Did he never even play Tee Ball? 

 

Did he land in a bad situation? YES.

Was he wildly over-drafted? YES. 

 

We’ll never know what could have been had he landed in a better situation and been brought along properly. He might still be a backup somewhere. But, by all accounts he was a fine young man and I wish him all the success and happiness in the world. 

 

 

.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Augie

[DuckyBoys]

3 hours ago, Phil The Thrill said:

I will never understand why the Bills didn’t do better than Kevin Kolb as the answer to the play the “veteran mentor.”  He wasn’t exactly a grizzled veteran and there were better options.  It would have made sense if they signed Kolb (knowing his injury history) and another veteran, because they likely knew they were drafting a QB.  

Then...when Kolb got hurt, rather than signing a QB like Kyle Orton in 2014, they were like “ yeah our QB room is good with 2 rookies.”  
 

EJ was a failed pick and for that Whaley and Nix deserve a lot of blame.  But IMO they deserve MORE blame for not having any type of plan to develop the QB or not having the ability modify that plan on the fly.

 

Both Nix and Whaley were terrible GM’s.  Good riddance.

 

I always thought he would be an excellent QB mentor and reliable if presses into action for short stretches

 

Which they once again repeated with the dynamic duo of AJ McCaron and Peterman.  Which Allen was able to survive that 2018 year.  Watching the Bills handle the qb position is way too stressful which is why I desperately cling to Josh being the 10+ year high end starter

[BuffalOhio]

5 hours ago, Rico said:

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

Or Drew Bledsoe.  Or Bernie Kosar.

[Gugny]

2 hours ago, Rico said:

Could've, would've, should've...

 

 

Could've, would've, should've won that game.  Bills had the game won and the defense lost it in the end.  Plus, Sam took a nice vacation in London while his teammates played a football game.

[bigK14094]

EJ was never going to make it.  He was missing TJ Graham by  10 or 15 yards on all verticle routes  early years.  He had a few good games, but, I will never forget the fiasco in London.  EJ, like Losman, did not have the head for the game imho.  A decade wasted on those two guys.  And, then there was Todd Collins......oh, never mind.  (a failure in Buffalo but 15 years in the league)

Edited April 18, 2020 by bigK14094
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