ESPN’s Adam Schefter mentioned on Monday’s Sportscenter that he believes Bills first-round pick E.J. Manuel will be the first rookie quarterback to start a game this season.
“Whenever you have a first round pick invested in a player, that gives that quarterback, politically, the best chance to start quickest of any other quarterback. That would be EJ Manuel of the Buffalo Bills,” said Schefter, via BuffaloBills.com. ”When the Bills traded back and landed at spot 16 and positioned themselves to get EJ Manuel, that set them up to get EJ Manuel in the lineup and on the field as soon as possible.
“Now they did go out during the offseason and signed Kevin Kolb, but when you pick a quarterback in the first round at this time when we’ve seen Cam Newton experience the success that he did right after a lockout. When we saw Andrew Luck and RGIII and Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden and Russell Wilson all start from the beginning that tells you that NFL teams are open to giving deserving rookie quarterbacks a shot. And clearly with all that Buffalo has invested in EJ Manuel it figures that he would be the first rookie quarterback to start this season.”
Bills new HC Doug Marrone told reporters following the draft that Manuel will be given an opportunity to compete for the starting job during training camp along with Kolb and Tarvaris Jackson. You would have to think that, all things being equal, Manuel would get the nod over Kolb and Jackson, especially after they selected him in the first-round.
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
