Buffalo Bills Were Impressed by EJ Manuel During Workout in Poor Weather

The Buffalo Bills made an interesting choice when they decided to draft former Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel in round one ahead of signal-callers like Geno Smith, who was believed to be the top quarterback in the 2013 class. One of the big knocks on Smith’s game, however, was his struggles in bad weather.

In Buffalo, there are clearly some tough conditions that the quarterbacks will be faced to play in and it was that factor that led the Bills to Manuel.

He conducted a workout in less than ideal conditions with some strong winds and thunderstorms before and during his session at Florida State. It was his resilience during the workout that really put him ahead of the group in the eyes of Buffalo head coach Doug Marrone.

“I remember when I first got the job here in Buffalo, and I had been up here and played up here before, and I got out of the car in January and the wind I was like, ‘Wow.’ I never realized how windy it was that time of the year,” Marrone said on SiriusXM radio, according to the team’s official website.

“We started talking about the quarterbacks, and we went back and researched all the teams that played in the Northeast in the bad weather and all the success they had with quarterbacks and the common traits that they had. They were big and had big hands and were able to throw the ball in tough weather and that’s what we were looking at.”

Hopefully for the Bills and Manuel, he can continue to succeed in less than stellar conditions. He will need to do that on a regular basis and take the Bills to the next level if he hopes to live up to his draft position.