Can E.J. Manuel Possess a Cam Newton Impact For the Florida State Seminoles?

An unproven redshirt freshman quarterback named E.J. Manuel hijacks the game and puts on an MVP performance much to the chagrin of West Virginia fans like myself, have been left asking yourself why they just traveled all of the way down to Jacksonville to view a 6-6 team with a backup quarterback dominate their beloved Mountaineers. As I sat in the far-too-cold-for-Florida stands of EverBank Field on that damp New Year's Day, I watched and discovered just a little about this young man named Manuel and came away supremely impressed.

Walking from the stadium that day and hearing the Seminole faithful sing the praises of departing coach Bobby Bowden, I couldn't aid but believe it was in fact Manuel who deserved to be hoisted onto shoulders and heaped with praise instead of the old coach. Because unlike Bowden, who represented the Florida State past, it had been Manuel who was holding the important thing to the plan's bright future. You could call it a coming-out party or whatever trendy phrase they have for events as such, but in its purest form exactly what it was, was a young star in the making stepping onto the huge stage and thriving in ways only the accurate fantastic ones can.

Sadly, with senior quarterback Christian Ponder returning from injury for his senior season, we'd be forced to wait before the Manuel party could really kick into full swing. At times though, a little patience only enhances the ultimate end result. With Ponder off to the NFL and with coach Jimbo Fisher bringing back a 90's era attitude to this Seminole crew, the stage is once again set for E.J. Manuel to shine. The first kind five-star recruit out of Virginia Beach presently has the chance to carve out a name for himself about the national college football scene.

Is the junior a household name at this time? No, but at this time last year, precisely how a lot of of you college football enthusiasts had incoming Auburn QB Cam Newton pegged like a Heisman hopeful? If my recollection serves me well, precisely zero. We'd be getting a bit ahead of ourselves if we plain stated E.J. Manuel may be the next Cam Newton, but if you look at some of the parallels between the two?afirst year as a starter, playing for fringe national title contenders and overall just eerily related types of players it's challenging not to draw comparisons.

What we saw from Manuel in modest spot duty last year was encouraging. He completed 70 percent of his passes on the year and looked actual solid within the Chick-fil A Bowl. E.J. Manuel Sophomore Highlights So let's, at the minimum, be encouraged and intrigued in what E.J. Manuel and also the rest of this Florida State team have available for us in 2011. I could be getting a bit ahead of myself. Bear in mind, this is coming from the same guy who watched highlights of Xavier Lee at Seabreeze Senior high school and thought, "Wow, that kid's got All-American written all over him." So take out the salt-shaker and pour a few grains on the laptop or computer screen if so desired.