E.J. Manuel Says He Is Best In Class
February 23rd, 2013
Joe has no idea if Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel will be a success in the NFL much less have any type of football career. Joe has seen projections of Manuel as Day 2 pick to an undrafted free agent, a work in progress to a practice squad guy.
Joe can write this with certainty: Manuel is one of the most impressive college players Joe has dealt with. Confident, eloquent, polished, intelligent, Manuel oozes personality and is nothing but polite.
Manuel comes across like the type of guy you’d want your daughter to marry.
Manuel met with reporters Friday afternoon at the NFL Scouting Combine and he did his best to sell himself to teams as a completely versatile quarterback.
“Pro style? I wasn’t in a gun all the time. I knew how to do a cadence,” Manuel said. “I can tell there was a difference [with other quarterbacks]. At the Senior Bowl, they taught us stuff that I already knew. I’ve done some read-option. I know I can do it.
“I think I am the best quarterback in this class, no disrespect to anyone. I have proved I am consistent in my reads and my accuracy.”
Manuel can handle pressure it sure appears. He won four bowl games, the first when he was a freshman in the Gator Bowl in what was Bobby Bowden’s final game. The sidelines were ringed by greats of Florida State’s past. Don’t think there was pressure on the kid to pull out a win then?
(In that same game, Manuel out-dueled a guy named Geno Smith and West Virginia.)
Look, Joe hasn’t forgotten Greg Schiano’s decree for competition at all positions, though this week Schiano was adamant that Josh Freeman is locked in as the Bucs starter.
Would Manuel be a nice late-round pick up to sit and develop and watch the game behind Freeman? Joe could think of worse choices.
Meanwhile, Manuel, who was the Senior Bowl MVP, seemed to enjoy all the attention he has received at this week’s combine.
“I have watched the combine every year since I’ve had the NFL Network,” he said.
Joe has a pretty good idea that if this NFL thing doesn’t work out, Manuel will be a success at whatever he tries in life.
February 23rd, 2013 at 8:19 am
As an FSU fan…he’s the one who stopped them from winning a National Championship. Poor decisions at the worst times
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:09 am
Forget Manuel and really concentrate on tendering an offer to Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitz is a legit contender to start and he could be gotten for a reasonable price saving the draft picks for Defense.
Personally I like Fitz over Free
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:18 am
@jpdrcs
isn’t that what we have now?
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:19 am
For you stat lovers:
2011 Fitz: QB rating 79.1 Pass completion: 62%
2011 Free QB rating 74.6 Pass completion:63%
2012 Fitz: QB rating 83.3 Pass completion: 66%
2012 Free QB rating 81.6 Pass completion: 55%
Considering Fitz had a terrible O-line and no V-Jax think how much better Ryan would be in Tampa.
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:31 am
C’mon Mr Lucky,
You can level with us, we’re your friends, Ryan Fitzpatrick aside, you’d take Ryan Leaf over Freeman.
Don’t you trust our coach? He says Free is the man. Buy a ticket and get on board, this train’s leaving the station. lol
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:35 am
Come on Joe, you can’t judge a guy by his college record. I mean look at Freeman. In college he was inconsistent, had accuracy, could beat sub .500 team and would lose to could teams. And look at him now!
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 am
@The_Buc_Realist (why do u use underscores??????) Anywho….I’ll take a leaping swan dive off the Sears Tower if the Bucs don’t sign Freeman to a 10 year deal (#5’s 2012 Highlights were just posted on YouTube….AMAZING!!!!!!!!)
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 am
@The_Buc_Realist (why do u use underscores??????) Anywho….I’ll take a leaping swan dive off the Sears Tower if the Bucs don’t sign Freeman to a 10 year deal (#5’s 2012 Highlights were just posted on YouTube….AMAZING!!!!!!!!)
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:00 am
EJ Manuel is Adrian McPherson reincarnated.
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:04 am
Man, Joe doesn’t even try to hide that he’s an FSU fan 😉
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:26 am
LOL Realist, Freeman did not have accuracy in college. 🙂
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:27 am
Fatmosh:
Please explain.
February 23rd, 2013 at 10:28 am
Not exactly a terrible analogy, though McPherson was more of a runner, wasn’t he?
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:15 am
I’d spend a fifth round pick on Manuel. Maybe a four if we still had two when it came around. He was a mixed bag at Fla State. I have doubts whether he ever lives up to his potential, but he does have potential. He may yet mature into a good QB.
February 23rd, 2013 at 11:59 am
This article that breaks down the QBs for this years draft really was an interesting one that really opened my eyes to EJ, you might like it Joe.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1539523-a-full-scouting-guide-to-the-top-quarterbacks-in-the-2013-nfl-draft
February 23rd, 2013 at 12:03 pm
Anyone who’s watched more than one FSU game knows Manuel is garbage. Watch last year’s game against UF. He played like and made decisions like a freshman.
We already have a crappy QB in Freeman. We don’t need another one.
February 23rd, 2013 at 12:15 pm
I think Manuel will be gone before we decide to use a latter round draft pick. He’ll be taken by the 3rd round which at that time he won’t be on our radar. Just way too many other needs.
February 23rd, 2013 at 2:21 pm
Not so sure the FSU woes in big games should be pinned on Manuel or the Head Coach. As seasons pass more and more of Jimbo Fisher’s control issues are coming out. He lost a lot of coaching staff this year because of it and a few players came out early, IMHO because of it.
February 23rd, 2013 at 4:13 pm
@Joe McPherson looked more fluid running the rock, but he also had a cannon capable of pushing the rock downfield just like Manuel
February 23rd, 2013 at 5:37 pm
As a current fsu student this would be a HORRIBLE pick for the bucs. Ej plays good against bad teams and does crappy against good teams. He constantly throws off his back foot and single handedly lost the Florida game for us this year. Just because he won 4 bowl games isn’t a testament to him it’s because fsu’s defense is good. He is the same type of player as freeman so if you want more head aches then yes take him
February 23rd, 2013 at 6:23 pm
This shouldnt even be a topic anymore. EJ Manuel would not doing anything more special than what Josh Freeman is doing right now. PLEASE stop talking about wasting a pick on him. As for everyone believing Coach and him saying Freeman is “our guy”… yeah, for this year alone. There is nobody in FA or draft worthy of bringing in to be our future. Either Freeman leads us to the playoffs this year or Schiano makes the decision to move on and bring in a true QB, not a 6’6 project who was mediocre in college.
February 23rd, 2013 at 7:09 pm
@Macabee
I wouldn’t take Ryan Leaf over Freeman because Leaf doesn’t have the Jerry Curl look and can’t moonwalk.
Other than that they’re pretty much the same.
February 23rd, 2013 at 9:02 pm
LOL!!!!LOVE IT MR.L
February 24th, 2013 at 12:12 am
E.J. has the exact same question marks as Free. They are practically clones. Which is exactly why we should draft him. One of them will be damned good eventually.