Dunk: Bills blew it by benching Manuel

Bills head coach Doug Marrone preached patience with quarterback EJ Manuel only to go back on his word, and it might well come back to bite his team.

Before the 2014 season Marrone told Sportsnet.ca that he was behind the 2013 first round draft pick “110 percent. He’s working hard to progress and we’re going to stick with him,” Marrone said. At the time, Marrone believed Manuel needed to be allowed time to develop as a young pivot in the NFL.

“He’s not going to turn around and be a franchise guy overnight, that doesn’t happen often in this league,” Marrone said. “We’re living in a world where everybody wants it now. There is no doubt the player wants it now and we want it now, but these things take time.”

Fast-forward to the present: Four games into the season, Buffalo sits tied atop the AFC East at 2-2 and Marrone clearly was expecting Manuel to be at a franchise level now. Or at least that’s how it appears with the decision to send the 24-year-old to the bench in favour of Kyle Orton, a guy who had his last starting job taken away by Tim Tebow.

Everyone knows what Orton brings to the table. He has a .500 record as a starter (35-35), a 58.5 career completion percentage, a 79.9 quarterback rating and has never led a team to the playoffs–ever. The 10-year veteran was close to retiring this past off-season until Buffalo threw a two-year, $11-million contract at him. The deal made Orton the highest paid backup quarterback in the NFL this season.

When Manuel heard the numbers you have to think he wondered why his team was giving so much money to another passer. Especially when his coach seemed to be all-in with No. 3 to begin the season. There was no sense of panic when Manuel helped the Bills start 2-0 and he seemed to be finding a comfort zone. But a subsequent two-game losing streak and rough patch from Manuel has him holding a clipboard.

Sometimes you take one step forward and two back before taking a giant leap in a positive direction. Manuel wasn’t given much leeway to work through and learn from his struggles. And we must remember Manuel is still essentially a rookie, he’s only started 14 games in the NFL.

If you take a look at some of the elite quarterbacks in the game today and compare their rookie statistics to those of Manuel’s through 14 starts, they’re not really far off.

Looking at the numbers, Manuel has a better completion percentage than Luck and Manning. More touchdown passes than Brees and fewer interceptions than Brees, Luck and Manning. He has a higher QB rating than Brees, Luck and Manning. And a superior W-L record than Rodgers and Manning. So in relation to four of the best in the business, Manuel really isn’t off to a bad start.

And it’s worth noting all were allowed time to work through their ups and downs. Case in point Manning recently told TheMMQB.com, “I still think playing early is the best way to learn.”

Apparently Marrone and his staff don’t feel the same way. Instead of finding out just what they have in Manuel over a large enough sample size and seeing if he can bounce back from a trying two-game stretch, Buffalo has possibly stunted his growth and definitely dented his confidence by demoting him.

The move makes even less sense when you consider Orton has been learning the offensive system for just over a month. Meanwhile, Manuel has been engrossed in the scheme for well over a year.

It’s clear the pressure for the Bills to win now in the Queen City is high, and the division does seem more winnable this year than it has in several seasons, but starting Orton over Manuel is not the short- or long-term answer. Simply put, Orton is a known quantity–by all evidence mediocre–and Manuel has the potential to grow into a much better quarterback, but it won’t happen on the sideline. Marrone should have stuck to his word and shown faith in the player with room to grow.