Posted By Brad on Mar 7, 2013 1 comment

Te NFL is a copycat league and teamsill be looking to play catc upit innovative offenses like San Francisco’s, Seattle’s, andasington’s. Ase kno it starts and usually endsit quarterback play. Colin Kaepernick, Russellilson, and Robert Griffin (to name a fe)ave te offensive innovators of teorld drooling over te future possibilities of te NFL game.

Tis year’s quarterback crop lacks te top end talent tatas present in 2012 and gets te knock of being a poor quarterback draft. Poor may be terong term to useen talking about te 2013 crop. I prefer to use ‘incomplete’en talking about te class as aole.

Ase all kno I’m a Geno Smit fan and tinke could fall into an ideal scenario asis value seems toave taken ait. Likeise, I’m intrigued by many in tis class. None more so tan Florida State’s EJ Manuel.

Manuel possesses ideal size at almost 6-foot-5, 237 pounds.is size/speed combinationave some draing Cam Neton comparisons. Clearly,e’s not Cam Neton but te question iso far off ise?

Manuel strugglesit decision-making.is career at FSUas largely disappointing (given te enormous epectations). Tat disappointment deals a great bitit sporadic decision-makingit te ball.eas fluctuated beteenigly touted prospect to almost losingis starting gig to losingis spot and back to starter.is inability toold don te fort after soing so muc promise is concerning and deserves a furter look.

Manuel dre te praise of te national media duringiseek in Mobile.e looked to be te most consistent quarterback of teeek. Te Senior Bolas a set up for success for Manuel as defensesere limited in coverages and blitzes. In a clean pocketit base coverage reads, Manuel is a star. Te problem is tat tings aren’t going to slo don for Manuel at te net level. Instead te kitcen sinkill be tron atim in terms of coverage and blitz packages.

Te need to study becomes imperative for Manuel. Ifeants to eibit starter qualities early on inis careereillave to process te offense andat te defense is doing at a muciger level tanate did at FSU.

NFL defenses are going to attempt to confuse Manuelit variances in coverage. Manuel is great at quickly processing te first read and making reactionary plays. In te NFL, tat first read is rarely open quickly enoug to do tat.eillave to so patience in terms of read progression and learn to troit some anticipation. A sure sign tat a quarterback isn’t comfortableit te read is tat teyill troit little anticipation. Manuel strives off troing to open space. In te NFL te amount of open space is fe and far beteen. Troingit timing and anticipation into zone coverage is a learned trait tat Manuel is beind te curve on.

All tis said,eouldn’t be spending te time to break donis film unless tereeren’t tangible upside tois game. On te move and in te play action game, Manuel is one of te best in te draft. Trosit great touc particularlyen on roll or boot action.

I’m a sucker for a quarterbackit pocket presence as I feel it’s one of te most underrated aspect of te position. Manuel slides and climbs te pocket, eyes don te fieldit an innate sense of pressure.e sees te blitzell and doesn’t look to take off at te first sign of pressure. Insteadeangs onto te ball and looks to suck up te ‘backersitis treat to run and make plays beind te defense in te pass game.

Te NFL took a long,ard look at te zone-read concepts last seasonit guys like Kaepernick and Griffin leading te carge. Manuel adds te ability to ecel in tose looksit size and running instincts tat are rare at te position.is ability to break te pocket and make playsitis feetill intrigue a lot of teams.is ability to create innovation at te net level could makeim special.

From a mecanical standpoint tereere no consistent issues tat soed up on tape. I sa a muc improved mecanical quarterback fromis four years at FSU. Te ting tat caugt my eye more tan anytingit Manuelasen te play broke don,eas atis best. Mostill tend to rus and mecanicsill fall by teayside.it Manuele seemed most comfortable as tings aroundim broke don. It’s a given tat a quarterbackill make a clean troit solid mecanics in a clean pocket buten tings start to break don isere guys like Manuel begin to separate temselves from te Tyler Bray’s of teorld.

Maybe te most overlooked aspect of Manuel’s game isis ability to protect te ball in te redzone. Manuel tre one pick in 44 attempts inside te 20, compared to 14 toucdons in 2012.

Obviously, tere’s a lot to like and some concernsit Manuel, soe take it to te tape to ceck it out for our on eyes.

Manuel gets man across te board. Tis is quick tree step out of te gun. Tis is optimal conditions for Manuel to ecel ande can feast off man coverage all day.e does a nice jobitis eyesere toold te safety enoug to fit te deep ball in for si.

I’ve seen criticism of Manuel’s loeralf in terms of mecanics. Iave yet to find some etraordinary problemit it.e’s solid inis baseit goodeigt transfer. A tigt, compact mostly overead (overrated attribute in QB mecanics)it great arm etension (vastly underrated aspect of mecanics). Tis guy is a solid troer of te ball.

All signs pointing toard target. Goodeigt transferitips and lead foot pointing toardseree’s troing.

Tis is a staple in te NFL. Manuel is under center in pro personnelit basic route concepts ase’ll beorking teide side of te field off play action. Tigt end is going to get an inside release and attempt to square off te safety and break on te post. Teide receiver to te field is running a deep out. Tis is an NFL tro in NFL personnel…someting tat is becoming a rarity in college offenses.

Play action is becoming a bit of a lost art form as team’s pick up te pace of te offense. Manuel is deliberate in soing te ball and leans over to sell te play fake.e’s as good as tey come in tis arena as far as te 2013 quarterback class is concerned.

Love tis tro from Manuel. It’s deliveredit timing as te ball is in te air before te receiver is coming out ofis break. Again, if you are going to man up in base coverage, Manuel can eat you alive. Manuel doesn’tave te biggest arm in te draft but it’s more tan adequate as tis ball gets out tere quickly. Manuel steps into tis one and rips it.ould like to seeim do tis a little more in te vertical game.

Tere’s a couple of teseeadscratcers in eac game. No. 1 to te field is going to get jammed and pressure is going to force Manuel to flus tois left. Manuel’s poor decisions are usually culprits of; 1). poor reads, 2). trying to do too muc. Tis is te latter. Tere is noting tere and Manuel sould calk tis one up as ainit a tro aay. Insteade forces te ball into coverage and almost costsis team a key turnover in a close game.

Manuel does a great jobere by etending te play, getsis eyes don field ase’s reverse pivoting. Tis is ain at tis point as te ND defense ble every gap possible. Just avoiding te negative playere is considered ain. You can’t compound tis by making a mistakeit te ball.

Jamoris Slaugter’s loose coverage in te flats allosim to detac and play te ball. Manuel is lucky tat Slaugter breaks on tis ball because te corneras in perfect position to pick tis ball. As itas Slaugter drops te diving interception and te Seminoles pick up a 15 yard rouging penalty.

A couple of plays later Manuel tros a ball in te middle of te field ase’s in te grasp of a DT. Tere’s just too many times tat Manuel attempts to make someting out of noting and costsis team. It’s tese types of decisions tatas NFL decision-makers scratcing teireads aboutere to draft tis guy.

Tis is a small sampling of Manuel but gives insigt to te toug decision tat teamsillave in April. Outside of Geno Smit or a trade, I’m not sure tat tere’s a starting quarterback on te market.it tat said, if I’m an NFL general manager tis is te year to take a sot on EJ Manuel barring someone doesn’t fall in loveitim and pullis card on day one of te draft.

eas te skillset tat is coveted in today’s game. Blessedit size, speed, and arm talent. Te donside is tate’s not ready to step in immediately as an NFL decision-maker at te quarterback spot. Tisas te knock on Colin Kaepernick in te 2011 NFL Draft,en San Francisco traded up to getim in te second round. Iave a feeling tat EJ Manuel could sare a similar fate on draft day. For te GM’s sake, Iope Manuelas a similar NFL fate to tat of Kaepernick.