Posted by Chris Brown on May 6, 2013 – 10:48 am

ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter was asked on ESPN’s Sportscenter Monday morning who he thinks will be the first rookie quarterback to start in 2013. Here was his opinion.

Schefter thought Buffalo’s EJ Manuel would be the first quarterback to start in 2013. Here was his reasoning.

“Whenever you have a first round pick invested in a player, that gives that quarterback, politically, the best chance to start quickest of any other quarterback. That would be EJ Manuel of the Buffalo Bills,” said Schefter. “When the Bills traded back and landed at spot 16 and positioned themselves to get EJ Manuel, that set them up to get EJ Manuel in the lineup and on the field as soon as possible.

“Now they did go out during the offseason and signed Kevin Kolb, but when you pick a quarterback in the first round at this time when we’ve seen Cam Newton experience the success that he did right after a lockout. When we saw Andrew Luck and RG III and Ryan Tannehill and Brandon Weeden and Russell Wilson all start from the beginning that tells you that NFL teams are open to giving deserving rookie quarterbacks a shot. And clearly with all that Buffalo has invested in EJ Manuel it figures that he would be the first rookie quarterback to start this season.”

Head coach Doug Marrone did confirm on draft weekend that Manuel will be part of the open competition at quarterback.

“Absolutely. Every player that we’re taking no matter how we take them is entering a competition and at that position I’ve already said that and that remains the same,” said Marrone. “He’s thrown into the mix of that competition.”

Tags: 2013 NFL draft Posted in Inside the Bills