Manuel’s chance to prove his worth
The second-fiddle-quarterback thing, EJ Manuel has that down.
He’s done some starting, too, but Manuel spent time backing up Christian Ponder at Florida State, and Kyle Orton and then Tyrod Taylor with the Buffalo Bills, and Derek Carr for 3¾ games this season.
On Sunday, Manuel will be auditioning for another first-fiddle gig somewhere down the road. He’ll be subbing for Carr, who is expected to be out two to six weeks with a broken bone in his back. It could be a nice career-revival chance for Manuel, a showcase to demonstrate he is a legit NFL starter. But he’s not looking at it that way.
“I’m looking at it as an opportunity that’s before me right now. I’m not necessarily looking at it as a second chance,” Manuel said Wednesday.
But no quarterback wants to ride the bench
forever, especially if he came into the NFL as a first-round draft pick (Buffalo, 2013, No. 16 overall). Manuel’s stock went steadily downhill in Buffalo, so low that after four years with the Bills, the Raiders were able to pick him up as a free agent on a one-year deal at $800,000.
Now: Opportunity knocks again. A couple of nice games as Carr’s fill-in and Manuel’s football future gets much brighter.
So there’s a lot riding Sunday, for Manuel and for the Raiders. For sure, the Raiders are in much, much better shape, backup-QB-wise, than they were last season when Carr went down. Matt McGloin got the call then, and after he struggled and then injured his shoulder in a loss at Denver, raw rookie Connor Cook was forced to start the wild-card game (a loss) at Houston.
Manuel would seem to be a significant upgrade. He has 17 NFL starts under his belt (although only one last season), and had a strong fourth quarter Sunday at Denver in relief of Carr. Manuel’s quarterback rating at Buffalo was tepid (77.5), but he’s quarterbacking a better team now ... or so it would seem.
The Raiders have lost two in a row, the trillion-dollar offensive line has not been earning its money, team spark plug Marshawn Lynch has been misfiring the past two games, and the team’s two top pass receivers are not up to par: Amari Cooper is in a ball-dropping slump and Michael Crabtree is coming off an injury.
If Manuel can deliver for a game or three and help restart the Raiders’ sputtering offense, it will be a major career boost for him, whether or not he’s looking at it that way.
All Manuel has to do is hold his own, more or less, against Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco, who is slumping. His QB rating this season is 65.0, down about 20 points from his career average. For what it’s worth, Flacco’s salary is 26 times Manuel’s.
Manuel seems at ease slipping into the Raiders’ first chair this week. He was comfortable coming to the team, where he reconnected with center Rodney Hudson (they were teammates at Florida State) and Todd Downing. The Raiders’ offensive coordinator coached Manuel for one season in Buffalo, and no doubt was a strong voice in the Raiders’ decision to sign him.
Manuel has the same type of eager-beaver work habits as Carr. They both show up super-early, eat breakfast together, work out together (until Carr’s injury). Manuel’s teammates say he was cool Sunday after Carr went down.
“When he came in, he wasn’t rattled at all,” running back Jalen Richard said. “He came in on his rhythm.”
As Manuel said, “You just want to exude leadership. You want to exude confidence. Obviously, when you exude confidence, the rest of your teammates have confidence in you. It’s a confidence position. When you have it, your teammates will have it as well.”
Manuel was 11-for-17 for 106 yards against the Broncos, and threw an interception on a misplaced pass intended for Cooper. The quarterback said that in reviewing the game, he liked his quick decisionmaking and accuracy, didn’t like that pick, wishes he had run the ball on that play or made a better throw to Cooper.
The Raiders will be glad when they get Carr back, but in the meantime, Manuel brings a couple of new elements to the party. Cooper said Manuel throws the ball harder than Carr, and Richard said, “I’d say that he’s a little more mobile than DC, a little more athletic than DC, so he’ll bring some things to the table that ... defenses have to scheme against.”
All Manuel has to do is get the Raiders back on track and his football future brightens. It’s not an easy spot, but as he said Wednesday, “I’ve been in this situation before.”