Whaley on Manuel: 'This guy has a presence'

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Doug Whaley took command of the Buffalo Bills Thursday via his promotion to general manager, and he thinks his new quarterback is plenty capable of taking command of their offense.

"When you spend two minutes with the guy, you know this guy has a presence," Whaley said. of E.J. Manuel. "He has a presence on and off the field. (photo: Dave Wilkinson, Flickr)

"We are excited for everything EJ brings to the table, as well as the rest of our draft class. We think the sky is the limit."

Later in the day, Whaley appeared on NFL Network's Total Access to talk about his new post, and part of the interview was about Manuel and his chances in the positional battle for the starting job.

“Time will tell,” Whaley said, via the team's website. ”He does have the work ethic and the leadership qualities that he’ll have a chance. But we believe competition brings out the best in everybody.

"Between him, Kevin Kolb, Tarvaris Jackson, even Jeff Tuel, we’re excited to see who comes out on top of that position battle.”

Manuel has a lot of work to do, notably with putting touch on his passes and improving field vision, in preparing to face NFL defenses and running a pro offense. But Manuel's physical attributes and leadership characteristics certainly have helped his case.

Bills coach Doug Marrone also used the "P" word (presence) regarding Manuel prior to their drafting the former Florida State signal-caller.

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