EJ Manuel has first round pedigree entering his third season with the Buffalo Bills, but that means very little to new head coach Rex Ryan, who has announced an open competition to be the starting quarterback between Manuel, Matt Cassel and Tyrod Taylor.
The last name, Taylor, would be the obvious choice as the underdog. Taylor is a sixth-round pick who has thrown 35 passes in four seasons, yet he's generating more buzz than other of his more prominent peers. A former teammate of Taylor's in Baltimore, Terrence Brooks, weighed in on the Bills' situation from afar.
"He was definitely a guy who could've been a starter," Brooks said. "But he was behind Joe Flacco, a really good guy, too. If we ever needed Tyrod, I was pretty sure he could step up to the job and do it."
Manuel, taken 16th overall in 2013, has not lived up to his expectations as a Bill. In 14 games Manuel has posted a 6-8 record, completed 58 percent of his passes and thrown 16 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Manuel has been picked off at least once in half of his starts, and was benched last season in favor of journeyman Kyle Orton, who retired after the season.
Typically first-round draft picks are given more rope, and almost never are cut by Year 3, but Ryan is a new coach whose regime did not take Manuel. The Jets waited until Round 2 to select Geno Smith, the highest-rated quarterback in the draft at the time.
Aside from Manuel, Cassel reportedly struggled in OTAs and just may be the odd man out in this competition. ESPN's Mike Rodak wrote, "Neither EJ Manuel nor Tyrod Taylor were great during spring practices; they were simply better than Cassel.
"Cassel was noticeably worse than Manuel and Taylor in the six practices open to reporters this spring. He was inaccurate, made poor decisions with the ball and was intercepted more than the other two quarterbacks. Cassel is several years removed from his career-best 2010 season with the Kansas City Chiefs, and at this point in his career he simply might not be a capable NFL starting quarterback."
Last season Cassel threw three touchdowns and was picked off four times in three games for the Minnesota Vikings.
[NFL.com]
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