EJ Manuel was the first quarterback taken in the 2013 NFL Draft. It turns out that the Florida State grad and new Buffalo Bill was actually the only quarterback taken in the first round of the draft.
This is a bit of a shocker considering all the talk that West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith was long considered to at least be a candidate to be the first pick overall had the Kansas City Chiefs still needed a new quarterback.
It turned out that once the Chiefs acquired Alex Smith and were no longer in the market for a QB, the draft stock of quarterbacks in general dropped precipitously.
EJ Manuel was the result of a bit of a calculated risk for the Bills who actually traded down from their number eight spot in order to acquire more draft picks later on. By picking him, Buffalo made the former Seminole only the third quarterback to be selected in the first round in franchise history.
The fact that Manuel was selected over Smith and former Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib was a bit of a surprise to those who were in attendance. Despite not being picked in the first round, it appears that at least Geno Smith was happy for his rival.
“Geno was one of the first guys who came over to me and gave me a hug.” the FSU quarterback said. Manuel said that he thought that said alot about Smith’s character and said he’s rooting for the West Virginia product no matter what team gets him.
The fact that the Bills didn’t select Nassib was even more surprising considering that new coach Doug Marrone coached Nassib at Syracuse. Marrone said that he wasn’t conflicted and that he just felt there were a lot of good quarterbacks in the draft.
The other NFL teams seem to disagree with Marrone to some degree, though it does mean that there will be plenty of passing talent left over in the later rounds.
Do you think EJ Manuel was the right choice for the Buffalo Bills in this year’s NFL draft?