Problem: Inexperience and injury concerns at quarterback.
Solution: Teach EJ how to Dougie.
EJ Manuel threw just 33 passes in the preseason, missed much of training camp, then was sidelined twice during the season with knee injuries (one to each). He had surgery to clean out some ligaments from his left knee in late January and plans to be a full offseason participant.
Manuel now wears the "injury prone" tag, inappropriately. If the Robert Griffin saga taught us anything, it's that there's a reason quarterbacks like Tom Brady insist on participating as fully as is reasonable in training camp and preseason, instead of spending August surrounded by pillows on a golf course. Those reps are important to the quarterback's timing, mechanics and health. Manuel's timing never clicked last year, and out-of-tune mechanics can lead to lingering injuries. Manuel also had a habit of putting himself in harm's way when scrambling, a problem that will be partially solved when he gains experience.
There's a "draft a contingency plan" movement in Buffalo right now, and it is exactly incorrect. Instead of bringing in a challenger to split reps, the Bills must give Manuel as many reps as possible, from minicamp through the preseason. We only saw the fractions of Doug Marrone's offense that Manuel and his backups (Jeff Tuel, Thad Lewis, Matt Flynn, Todd Collins, Joe Dufek, Ethel from Human Resources) were comfortable with. What we saw was intriguing: an offensive pace second only to Chip Kelly's, a wide variety of formations and concepts. It's not the kind of system that can be executed well with no experience and little training. (Then again, there are few systems like that.) Manuel showed enough promise, under the circumstances, to be given a full season at the reins.
