Playoff hopes ride on EJ Manuel's shoulders

• EJ Manuel started only nine games in 2013 due to injuries.
• The additions of Sammy Watkins and Mike Williams should upgrade Buffalo's passing game.

EJ Manuel knows what you're thinking, because he's thinking the same thing.

This is a big year for the Bills because they believe they have finally assembled a playoff-caliber roster, and just like the fans, Manuel knows everything hinges on his performance.

The teams with the good quarterbacks win in the NFL, the teams that don't have the right quarterback rarely win, and as a first-round pick in 2013, Manuel fully understands the expectations that have been strapped across his broad shoulders.

"It's an inherent responsibility and I'm used to it," Manuel said. "Playing at Florida State definitely prepared me for this because it was a high expectation level type school; they're expected to win all the time and for the most part we fit the bill during my time there. You're used to the pressure and people having high expectations for you, so I try to have them for myself."

Obviously, he didn't meet his expectations, or most anyone else's, during a less than stellar, injury-plagued first NFL season. He doesn't hide from this reality; he's the first to admit that 2013 was a downer for him, and the team.

Three separate knee injuries — one in the preseason, two in the regular season — cost him 6 regular-season games. In his stead, the Bills had to use Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel, a pair of undrafted players with virtually no combined NFL experience and far less natural talent than Manuel, at the most important position in sports. The results were predictable: Another last-place AFC East finish, and a 14th straight year out of the postseason.

"I'm not going to sit here and say a 6-10 season is all right because it's not," Manuel said. "As a quarterback, I can help that. I watched all my tape from last year, twice. It was a hard pill to swallow because you don't like to see yourself having bad plays or times when you didn't perform as well as you can. We could have done a lot better than 6-10, so for me, just grow from it, move past it, and get better in my second year."

Manuel largely received a pass for last year, but another poor season simply won't be tolerated by a fan base that is tired of losing. He has to be a difference-maker, and his teammates believe he's up to the challenge.

"They say the most growth you make is from year one to year two and you can see he's definitely putting in the time to do that," veteran running back Fred Jackson said near the end of spring OTAs. "We know we're only going to go as far as he can take us and that's a responsibility that he's shouldering and he wants that opportunity. He's putting in the work in the film room, spending extra time with the coaches, and that's all we can ask of him as a teammate."

Center Eric Wood sees the same thing, and he's eager to see how all the extra work, and being with the team for an entire offseason, will manifest itself at St. John Fisher College.

"Our expectations are high for him," Wood said. "I see him as more vocal, more confident, a better understanding of the offense. We all have a better understanding of the offense, but him especially. He looks good, he looks comfortable."

The Bills' hierarchy made a bold move in the draft, trading a 2015 first-round pick to jump up and take wide receiver Sammy Watkins. They brought in another receiver via a trade, Mike Williams. They drafted Cyrus Kouandjio, who will be expected to come in and solidify the right tackle position. And they hired a quarterbacks coach, Todd Downing. In essence, they were telling Manuel, "We're giving you the tools you need to succeed."

"You need people around him for him to be successful, and you need to play well on defense and special teams to help him, too," coach Doug Marrone said. "He needs to continue to get better, there's no doubt about it, because this is a league that is driven by that position. We're no different. When a quarterback plays well, those teams usually win, so we need for him to play well for us to win."

Manuel looked comfortable and confident during the spring because he knew the offense and had a better feel for the players around him. He also seemed to form a bond with Watkins, which is vital since Watkins figures to be his prime target.

"I think that's what my teammates want, and that's what coach Marrone and coach Hackett want — they want me to take over this offense and completely take control," Manuel said.

Before he came back to Buffalo for the start of the conditioning program, Manuel spent some time at a performance center in Miami working with Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers and Russell Wilson of the Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Not a bad pair to be taking advice from.

His takeaway from those talks? Work hard, be patient, and be the quarterback you can be.

"If you go back and look at those guys in their first year, it wasn't always great, it wasn't always perfect," Manuel said. "They've done a great job and I've built relationships with both of those guys. They said there's no trick to it, you just have to work and sometimes you have to bite the bullet because it's not going to be perfect all the time. Just keep at it, keep grinding."

Jackson thinks Manuel is the kind of player who will do just that. He saw it all spring, and he expects to see it all summer and all fall.

"Any time you get drafted in the first round, people put a lot of faith in you and all you can do is step up to that," Jackson said. "EJ wants that, he wants that pressure and he's doing everything he can right now to prepare himself for when we come back to training camp and get us through a season and win more football games. Any time you get a guy that's hungry and wants to be the guy to take us where we're going, that's the combination to have."

MAIORANA@DemocratandChronicle.com

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EJ Manuel

Position: Quarterback.

Height/weight: 6-feet-4, 237 pounds.

Experience: Second year.

College: Florida State.

As a pro: Drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft … The third quarterback ever selected in the first round by the Bills (Jim Kelly, 1983 and J.P. Losman, 2004) … Finished the year starting 10 games and throwing for 1,972 yards on 180-for-306 passing with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions ... Set Bills rookie records for most passing touchdowns and most completions in a season ... First Bills rookie to throw a touchdown pass in a season opener ... Bills became the first team in NFL history to score 20 or more points in their first five games of the season when led by a rookie QB.

College: Led the Seminoles to a 25-6 record as a starter, the third-most wins in program history, and became just the second QB in FBS history to win four straight bowl games.