Aug 16, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel (3) during a stoppage in play against the Minnesota Vikings at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Buffalo defeats Minnesota 20 to 16. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Back when the Bills took EJ Manuel in this year’s past draft people were calling for him to start right away and have been waiting for today. The thought of finally having our future franchise quarterback is something fans have wanted for years.
It all started with the teams OTA’s. Manuel came in and was the QB on the roster with the least amount of first team snaps. That to some people especially a first round pick could have brought down their confidence. EJ never really let that bother him and he always continued to learn and progress. The way he has also carried himself in listening to interviews for example has been great. This guy seems to have a good head on his shoulders and that’s something people I think don’t think about in being part of a good QB. What I mean by that is that if someone can just play the game and just doesn’t have the smarts or lacks the confidence/good mindset there will always be problems. From everything I seen Manuel has also been willing to do anything needed to help himself get better every day.
Then the minicamps and eventually training camp took place and I think it’s when EJ really started to show better strides then the others. With the release of Jackson it left the Bills with three QB; s. Manuel, Tuel and Kolb (newly signed at the time) were all in the contention to start according to coach Marrone. He said there would be an open competition and they would find out who had what it takes. Since that point when Marrone was questioned on how this QB battle would go at the start of camp it was EJ’s job. Kolb and Tuel had some good days but never really took their play and exceled. To me it just looked like EJ built off his play from the day prior and put it on himself to play that much harder/ better the day after. I’m not saying he didn’t have bad days because some were ugly but its how you play after to me shows that you learned from it and also wiped that negativity from his mind.
Lastly the preseason we seen Manuel when healthy showed he can play. His ability to move the ball down field with also keeping that up-tempo going is something fans will be seeing a lot of. This new offense the Bills will implement fits Manuel’s play very well. As I said above about being healthy is the only thing that scares me. This injury to the knee is something that was said to be 100% and I just hope that is correct. A guy that could mean so much to this franchise has to be taken care of to the best of the medical’s staff ability. Being told he’s good to go was the great news that everyone wanted to hear and now we wait to see what the kids got. Bring on the Patriots.