Fred Jackson Believes Bills QB E.J. Manuel Can Still Be Elite

The Buffalo Bills benched second-year quarterback E.J. Manuel after four games this season in favor of Kyle Orton, but running back Fred Jackson still believes Manuel can be an elite quarterback in the NFL.

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E.J. Manuel was supposed to be the quarterback of the future for the Buffalo Bills after they took him in the first round in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Florida State but after he lost his job after the first month of the season his future is cloudy at best.

While head coach Doug Marrone lost faith in the second-year signal caller this season, Manuel’s teammate, Bills running back Fred Jackson, isn’t closing the door on the career of Manuel and still thinks he can be an elite quarterback.

"“I believe so,” Jackson said on the Tiki and Tierney radio show. “I believe he has everything in his power to get to that level to be an elite quarterback, to take the reins of this team and get them over the hump. I watch him work every day. I see him talking to everybody on the coaching staff – even the defensive coaching staff – to pick their brains as to what it is that they’re trying to do to a quarterback. He’s a guy that’s hungry and thirsting for the knowledge to become an elite quarterback in this league.”"

Manuel has 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his career and a 78.5 quarterback rating and for Manuel to fulfill the promise the team saw in him when they made him the only quarterback taken in the first round last year, Jackson believes he can learn a lot from the guy who took his job, Kyle Orton.

“I think that’s one of the things you definitely have to have,” Jackson continued. “You have to want to put in that work to get to that next level because it’s not just going to happen. The way he continues to carry himself and is constantly paying attention on the practice field, he’s learning some great things from Kyle. Kyle’s a veteran quarterback that has been here or been around the league, so he’s got a chance to learn some stuff form him, and he’s definitely taking all that tutelage.”

You can hear the entire interview with Jackson on with Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney here.

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