EJ Manuel was the guy the Bills wanted and he’s the guy the Bills got. He just happened to go about 10-20 picks higher than most expected.

In a draft with loads of depth but short on top-end talent, there was no guarantee where the first quarterback would be taken or who that quarterback would be. Different pundits pointed in four different directions as to which team would be selecting a quarterback and which quarterback would be the first off the board. Funny enough, no one was able to hit the nail on the head (except for Joe Buscaglia).

Sitting with the eighth pick and what now appears to be a draft board whose top-ranked player was somewhat undeserving of the eighth overall selection, the Bills wisely moved back, added another valuable pick and still put themselves in a position to take their quarterback.

Buddy Nix, Doug Whaley and company deserve credit for adding another second round pick while only retreating eight selections in the first round (and another seven in the third). All the while, the player they were targeting the entire time stuck around for them at 16.

Truthfully the only issue anyone has had with the choice is that Manuel was expected to be a better fit lower in the first round or even early in the second. There’s little doubt about his overall talent, just misgivings about the pick with which he was selected.

After having a night to digest everything, the only thing that matters is that the Bills got the player they wanted while adding an additional pick to stock the cupboards with. As pointless as draft grades are, the Bills deserve a pass for their maneuvering last night.

This logic can be assigned to any player they would have decided to take at 16. If Jarvis Jones, Xavier Rhodes or Cordalle Patterson sat atop the Bills’ board and the team managed to get their guy while adding another quality pick the story would be the same. The general train of thought is that 16 was a reach for Manuel. But if that’s the player the Bills wanted then there is no such thing as a reach in their book. Continue reading →