We were one of the first sites around the Internet to suggest that EJ Manuel was worthy of a first-round pick. When his name was called No. 16 overall to the Buffalo Bills, plenty of experts were shocked. But it’s important to note that the Florida State product possesses a ton of upside and talent.
Manuel will compete with free-agent signee Kevin Kolb and holdover Tarvaris Jackson for the starting quarterback position.
Time to take a look at how Manuel will perform in terms of fantasy football should he get the starting gig as a rookie.
College Stats | Season | Pct | Yards | TD | INT |
| 2009 | 65.1 | 1,013 | 4 | 6 |
| 2010 | 69.9 | 1,031 | 5 | 4 |
| 2011 | 65.3 | 2,817 | 22 | 8 |
| 2012 | 68.0 | 3,707 | 27 | 10 |
| Totals | 66.9 | 8,568 | 58 | 28 |
Manuel was a two-year starter at Florida State after Christian Ponder graduated to the NFL. He responded by completing 65 percent of his passes for over 2,600 yards and 18 touchdown passes. Manuel added four more scores on the ground.
However, Manuel isn’t a dual-threat quarterback in the form of Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson. Heck, Andrew Luck is more mobile. In reality, Manuel is more of a pure drop-back passer who could come in and make a play or two on the ground.
He does fit extremely well in Buffalo’s newly installed West-Coast offense. While he will struggle with accuracy to an extent, Manuel possesses the pocket awareness and ability to hit his second read to make an impact in this offense.
Manuel is also going to be aided a great deal by the presence of C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson in the backfield. He won’t be asked to do a whole heck of a lot early in his career outside of managing the game and limiting mistakes.
What might be an ideal scenario for Buffalo will definitely impact Manuel’s fantasy football stock early in his career. He shouldn’t be relied on as a decent QB2 option in standard one-quarterback re-draft leagues. Rather, Manuel’s value sits in dynasty drafts. In those types of formats, he’ll end up being a solid QB1 option.
Don’t draft Manuel in standard leagues. Check in on him during the early part of the year and go from there. He could be a great mid-season add as a backup quarterback option in case your QB2 struggles or gets injured. That being said, don’t expect a Kaepernick-type fantasy shock and awe. It’s going to be a learning process for the youngster.
2013 Stat Projections: 62.5 completion %, 3,150 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions