EJ Manuel 2013
180 for 306 (58.8%) | 1,972 yards | 6.44 YPA | 11 TD | 9 INT | 28 Sacks
Nick Foles 2012
161 for 265 (60.8%) | 1,699 yards | 6.44 YPA | 6 TD | 5 INT | 20 Sacks
Andy Dalton 2011
300 for 516 (58.1%) | 3,398 yards | 6.59 YPA | 20 TD | 13 INT | 24 Sacks
Joe Flacco 2011
312 for 542 (57.6%) | 3,610 yards | 6.66 YPA | 20 TD | 12 INT | 31 Sacks
Matt Ryan 2010
357 for 571 (62.5%) | 3,705 yards | 6.49 YPA | 28 TD | 9 INT | 23 Sacks
Matt Ryan 2009
263 for 451 (58.3%) | 2,916 yards | 6.47 YPA | 22 TD | 14 INT | 19 Sacks
Matthew Stafford 2009
201 for 377 (53.3%) | 2,267 yards | 6.01 YPA | 13 TD | 20 INT | 24 Sacks
Jay Cutler 2009
336 for 555 (60.5%) | 3,666 yards | 6.61 YPA | 27 TD | 26 INT | 35 Sacks
All of these players that have been mentioned in comparison to EJ Manuel all had similar stat lines in previous seasons. They all had completion percentages hovering around 60% with YPAs around 6.5. What I think has affected him more than anything is the pressure he has faced. Of all these QBs mentioned (and I didn't do this on purpose, I just compared the stat lines while making this post) he has the highest amount of sacks per pass attempt. The closest was Nick Foles in 2012 being sacked every 7.5 pass attempts. EJ Manuel was sacked every 9.15 pass attempts.
You can argue that he doesn't sense pressure properly (or sensing it before it's there). You can argue that the offensive line did not play well enough in pass protection. You can argue that his receiving threats weren't creating separation to enable quicker passes. You can argue that the offensive playcalling was completely predictable and redundant. Chances are that all of these factors come into play. When you think about the defense generating pressure, it's likely to affect the QB the rest of the game where they sense pressure before it's there, that isn't uncommon. It would also make sense that this causes the QB to have happy feet and not properly set his feet before throwing.
EJ Manuel was actually one of the most sacked QBs in the league. You can argue that it was his fault, but did you know Thad Lewis was sacked more times per pass attempt than Manuel was? Here are the leaders:
Terrelle Pryor 12.4
Matt Flynn 12
Christian Ponder 11.3
Thad Lewis 10.9
Michael Vick 10.6
Ryan Tannehill 10.6
Russell Wilson 10.4
Geno Smith 10.3
Mike Glennon 10.1
Brandon Weeden 10.1
Colin Kaepernick 9.7
Cam Newton 9.4
EJ Manuel 9.2
EJ was actually the 13th most frequently sacked QB (I thought it was higher until I just calculated these). Thad Lewis was actually 4th. So is it EJ Manuel's problem? Or is it the offensive line's problem? Thad Lewis was actually sacked more often, so you can't put all the blame on Manuel. Or is it because both players are relatively inexperienced? We could debate it all day but figured I would share this with you all as a fan post instead of a reply to Brian's summary of EJ Manuel.