Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley is an EJ Manuel supporter.
That's not really surprising considering he was - self-admittedly - part of the organizational decision making process that led to Manuel being chosen 16th overall in the 2013 NFL draft.
Whaley, who said in his season post-mortem news conference that reporters should feel free to "assign blame" for the pick as they saw fit, believes that Manuel's frustratingly inept play and overall failings as an NFL quarterback thus far have more to do with the - bad to poor - coaching he received from former head coach Doug Marrone than his own shortcomings.
And further, he's been praising the embattled quarterback and making it clear that Manuel remains in the team's future plans, during the head coach interview process in which the franchise is currently engaged.
"Whaley is, according to an NFL source, conveying those thoughts to the candidates that he and the rest of the Bills' hierarchy have interviewed for the team's head-coaching vacancy," writes Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News.
"The source said that during interviews Whaley not only has spoken in glowing terms about Manuel, he also has made it clear he wants the new coach to make the progress in developing Manuel that Marrone and his staff failed to make."
The former first-round pick was given 14 starts - 10 in 2013, 4 in 2014 - to prove his mettle before Marrone recanted and made the move to steady, but entirely unspectacular, backup quarterback, Kyle Orton.
For his career, Manuel has 256 completions on 437 attempts for 2,810 yards, 16 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a rating of 78.5.
When asked by The Buffalo News in late Dec. if he thought Manuel could still be "the guy," Whaley was noncommittal.
"He did take a little of a regression back, but we've also seen some progression in what he's been doing at practice," Whaley said, according to a report from Jay Skurski. "So it's to be determined. And again, we're going to do our due diligence and leave every option open at that position."
Manuel was cryptic, but less equivocal about his role with the organization going forward.
"I think I'm still a major factor on this team as far as the offense, as far as leadership, so we'll see," he said.
It will be interesting what Whaley's commitment to the young, inconsistent signal-caller means as far as their ongoing coaching search, but one thing is certain - it will, no doubt, shrink the pool of interested candidates.
