Manuel left a heroic legacy at FSU. As a freshman, he led Florida State to a victory in the Gator Bowl as well as MVP honors, after replacing an injured Christian Ponder. Filling in for Ponder again as a sophomore, he was able to lead the Seminoles to a victory in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl, against South Carolina. Manuel became a full time starter in his Junior and Senior seasons. As a junior he threw for 2,666 yards and displayed his mobility as he scored 4 rushing touchdowns. However, the best was yet to come, from the young quarterback.

As a senior Manuel led the Seminoles to a 12-win season and dazzled fans with commanding wins over good football teams. He threw for 3,392 yards (second most in team history) and also won the first BCS bowl for FSU, since 2000. Throughout his career he was able to win five of six games against in state rivals Miami and Florida, and went 25-6, as a starter for the team.

According to NFL.com writer Marc Sessler, draft expert Mike Mayock had ranked Manuel as the number two quarterback behind West Virginia’s Geno Smith before the draft. However, after careful evaluation of his talent, the Bills took the 23 year old as the 16^th overall pick. Manuel was the first and only quarterback taken in the first round.

New head coach Doug Marrone shed some light yesterday on what the Bills liked most about Manuel. He stated that he liked Manuel's bad-weather play, more than that of any other quarterback. It seems as though the team is preparing for must win key games, when the weather in Buffalo starts to get rough.

Overall, I like this pick for Buffalo. EJ Manuel is a mobile and talented quarterback with a big arm, and an abundance of strength. The Bills will hope that he can beat out veterans Tarvaris Jackson and Kevin Kolb for the starting job, and take Buffalo to its first playoff berth in 13 long seasons.