ENOUGH ON MANUEL, HALL OF FAME QB’s HAD POOR FIRST YEARS

DON’T GET ME STARTED reads and listens to critics who proclaim that perhaps the drafting of EJ Manuel wasn’t a sound decision.

You could very well say the same for drafting John Elway and Jim Kelly after the first year of of these great quarterbacks.  Elway and Kelly had poor first years and then went on to perform so well, that the Hall-Of-Fame in Canton, Ohio has the busts on display.

Elway and Kelly bided their time until sharp offensive coordinators put systems in place that fit the talents of these great QBs.  Manuel didn’t have a Ted Marchibroda as Kelly did.

When you take a look at the first year stats of Manuel – Elway – Kelly, you can see that the current Bills QB had a much better first year than John Elway.  Nobody called for Elway’s head after his bad first season.   

Imagine Manuel’s completion percentage is almost the same as Kelly’s while  John Elway’s completion percentage certainly was not something to rave about.  And Manuel passed for more yards than Elway in fewer games.

Let’s take a look at the first year of these three quarterbacks.

Year	Player	Games	Comp	Att	Comp %	Yards	TDs	Int
2013	MANUEL	10	180	306	58.8	1972	11	9
1983	ELWAY	11	123	259	47.5	1663	7	14
1986	KELLY	16	285	450	59	3593	22	17

 The Bills in 1986 had a record of  4 – 12.

The Bills of 2013 had a record of  6 –  10

 Broncos in 1983  had a record of  9 –  7

If critics wanted to take off on someone, it would have been Elway after his first season.  After all the Broncos gave up a pro bowl offensive lineman to get Elway from Baltimore.

In Jim Kelly’s first year, it must be noted that before coming to Buffalo, he spent about 3 years in the United States Football League.

So hold back the criticism of Manuel and wait until he completes his 2^nd season.  Compared to the two great QBs his numbers measure up decently in the first year with the clubs.

Oh yes, how about the backups.  Elway had Kubiak and Kelly had Reich being almost coaches on the sidelines. 

     So relax; wait for the draft; wait for Marrone to put some pressure on Hackett.  Then one year from now – we’ll look at the 2^nd year stats of this trio to see how the second year compares on Don’t Get Me Started.

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Tagged with: EJ Manuel