Kryk Slants

Some NFL teams, such as the one on which Doug Whaley learned the personnel side of the pro-football business, are religiously devoted to roster-building through the draft.

For these teams, free agency is viewed warily, more for back-filling the roster than goosing it.

As pro scouting coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1999 to 2009, Whaley saw how that could work — gloriously. As in two Super Bowl wins.

But after his promotion Thursday to GM of the Buffalo Bills, the 40-year-old Whaley said in a telephone interview he won’t be close-minded in his talent searches.

“Our philosophy is just to accumulate good players,” Whaley said. “We’ll go and get them through the draft, or free agency, or picking them off through the waiver wire.

“Every day we’re going to evaluate what’s out there, and how we can make our roster better. I’m a firm believer — don’t limit yourself.”

It sure didn’t take the Bills long to replace Buddy Nix — who stepped aside on Monday. But, really, that was three days too long. The whole world knew Whaley was in line to get that job, and it was pointless to separate the announcements.

Thursday was mere formality.

Whaley left the Steelers for the Bills organization in February 2010, to become Nix’s assistant GM and director of pro personnel. The latter title was elevated to director player personnel just a year later.

Whaley signed a contract extension three months ago, which all but rubber-stamped his ascension upon Nix’s departure.

New Bills president Russ Brandon said during Thursday’s news conference at club headquarters that he has known Whaley since the two became friends at an NFL management seminar at Stanford University about seven years ago.

“I am thrilled for Doug,” Brandon said. “He deserves this opportunity. I have watched him work very closely for the last three-and-a-half years.

“Doug has every quality you look for in a leader. He has great work ethic. He is tireless at work, he is one of the most humble guys I have ever met, and everything is about ‘us’ … I have never heard an individual in this league say one negative word about Doug Whaley. He is the perfect guy to lead this organization and lead our football operation.”

Whaley played college football at Pitt. Two years later, in 1995, he became an assistant in the Steelers pro-personnel department. From 1996-98 he was the East Coast area scout for the Seattle Seahawks, before returning to the Steelers in the increased role.

Whaley has no small task in turning around the fortunes of the Bills, the NFL franchise mired in the longest playoff drought — 13 years. To say Western New Yorkers are impatient for immediate success is like saying Leafs fans wouldn’t mind a berth in the Stanley Cup Final.

Whaley admitted the temptation to quickly jack the current roster for new head coach Doug Marrone and his staff, at the possible expense of the long-term, is something he will have to carefully weigh.

“I think the thing you have to let everybody in the organization know, and everybody outside the organization, is we want to win — that’s our goal,” Whaley said. “But we also want to win consistently. So, yeah, there’s going to be a balancing act.

“We don’t want to sacrifice the short-term for the long-term, nor the long-term for the short-term. Our main focus is consistency.”

Whaley wasted no time in shaking up his player-personnel department, hiring two outsiders at the get-go — director of player personnel Jim Monos (from the New Orleans Saints) and director of college scouting Kelvin Fisher (from the Steelers) — in addition to a few internal shuffles.

Whaley himself played a greater role in the past two Bills drafts than he had in 2010 and 2011 — perhaps more than people realized.

“I had a little more input and influence in setting up the draft board,” Whaley said. “It was still Buddy’s pick, but I was the one that put the magnet on the board, and Buddy (maybe) pulled it off.

“My drafting philosophy is to get people who are competitive, love to play football and who are productive.”

And how does he gauge that?

“A lot of the times you can see by how they play. It comes through. The production will be obvious. How they attack not only practices but conditioning and stuff — that will let you know how much they love the game.”

Ideally, as much as Whaley.

2013 is going to wind up being a helluva year for Whaley. He and wife Stephanie are expecting their first child in mid-December.

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BILLS’ LAST TWO CANADIAN TARGETS GOT AWAY

With the recent success in the NFL of such ex-CFLers as Miami Dolphins’ all-pro pass rusher Cameron Wake and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner, shouldn’t the border-city Buffalo Bills cast their scouting eyes north too?

Well, they already do.

“I think we’ve always put an emphasis on scouting the Canadian league, along with (Canadian) colleges and the Arena League,” Doug Whaley told me over the phone on Thursday, shortly after being named the club’s 12^th GM.

“With our proximity I think it gives us a leg up. Unfortunately the last couple of guys (we targeted) we’ve not been able to get, for one reason or another.”

Wake starred for the B.C. Lions in 2007-08 before the Dolphins scooped him up. Browner was a standout with the Calgary Stampeders from 2007-10.

Some guy name Doug Flutie didn’t turn out too badly after a glittering CFL run. That is, until the Bills inexplicably benched Flutie for the team’s infamous Music City Miracle playoff loss in Tennessee. Buffalo hasn’t reached the playoffs since.

Now former Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix, right, with assistant GM Doug Whaley last month before the draft. (my grainy photo)

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NOTE: I will update this later with presser quotes replacing news-release quotes, etc…

Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix stepped down on Monday, the club announced in a mid-day news release.

Nix will “now transition to the title of special assistant,” the club said.

Doug Whaley, the club’s publicly proclaimed GM-in-waiting, was not immediately named Nix’s replacement.

Whaley was not even mentioned in Monday’s news release.

“We have a plan and we are going to execute that plan,” team president Russ Brandon said Monday at an impromptu news conference regarding Nix’s replacement.

“But today is about Buddy. When I am ready to address the other situation at some point, we will all be sitting here again together and we’ll go through that process. I won’t go through that today or at any time in the near future. We have a plan in everything we do.”

Whaley, the NFL club’s assistant GM and director of player personnel, signed a contract extension with the Bills in February. Prior to joining the Bills in 2009 as Nix’s right-hand man, Whaley had been the long-time pro-personnel coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nix, 73, had been Buffalo’s GM since Dec. 31, 2009. Previously he had been an area scout for the NFL club from 1993 to 2000, and national scout in 2009.

“I’ve made this decision to step away from the general manager’s position because I feel it is the right time,” the 73-year-old Nix said in a statement. “By the ‘right time’ I mean I think we have a good young roster, an excellent head coach (Doug Marrone) with a good staff, and it’s time to let someone else handle these responsibilities and move forward together.

“Timing is the main thing, but there are other benefits as well. This job is very demanding with a 24-7 schedule of responsibilities. This new position will enable me to spend more time with my family. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by (owner Ralph) Wilson and Russ, and I’m fortunate to step away from the job and still remain a part of the team.”

Nix’s new duties were not described in the news release, but at the news conference Brandon said:
“He will still play a vital role in our football organization. He will assist me, coach Marrone and the next general manager … He means more to me than I can say and has been a significant part of this organization and has helped raised me in this business.”

Upon his ascension to GM after the 2009 season, Nix hired his old friend Chan Gailey to be head coach. But Gailey did nothing in three years to turn around the struggling franchise’s on-field success. Gailey’s record was 16-32 (.333), tied for the worst three-year stint in the ongoing, dismal 13-year stretch in which the club has failed to make the playoffs.

Nix fired Gailey this past New Year’s Eve, a day after the 2012 season ended. The following day, 94-year-old Bills owner Wilson relinquished the day-to-day decision-making authority he’d had since founding the franchise in 1959, and promoted long-time club CEO Brandon to replace him as president.

An hour or two before Brandon’s New Year’s Day news conference, it had been reported that Nix was about to be fired along with Gailey and his assistant coaches. But Brandon stepped to the podium and announced that nothing could be further from the truth.

Although both Brandon and Nix ever since had each said publicly several times that no timetable for Nix’s retirement had been determined, it was widely speculated that that time would come shortly after April’s entry draft.

That’s exactly how it played out.

Thus, the club’s top-to-bottom youth movement appears complete. Brandon, 45, is president. Whaley, 40, apparently is about to become GM. Marrone, 48, heads up a young coaching staff. And the draft pick that Nix will be most remembered for, good or bad, is 23-year-old quarterback EJ Manuel, whom he selected 16^th overall three weeks ago.

“It is time to start, create and lead this franchise into the future with a new legacy,” Brandon said upon his ascension on New Year’s Day. “I can promise you that this will be a forward-thinking, progressive and attacking organization heading into the future.”

Nix’s draft resume as GM was mixed. While he added dynamic running back C.J. Spiller in 2010 (ninth overall), the jury is still out on No. 3 overall selection Marcell Dareus (defensive tackle, 2011), although Dareus understandably found it hard to concentrate on football in Year 2 following the in-season shooting death of his younger brother.

Last year’s top two picks, cornerback Stephon Gilmore (10^th overall) and offensive tackle Cordy Glenn (41^st overall) appear to have solid  NFL careers ahead of them.

Conversely, nearly all of Nix’s late-round picks in his first three drafts failed to pan out. Similarly, Nix was unsuccessful at finding useful undrafted free agents beyond punter Shawn Powell and long-snapper Garrison Sanborn, whose positions often are filled in the NFL by undrafted free agents.

Perhaps Nix’s biggest mistake was believing Ryan Fitzpatrick was the answer at quarterback.

Fitzpatrick’s two-year stints with both the St. Louis Rams and Cincinnati Bengals did not pan out, but the Bills signed him as a backup in 2009. He became Buffalo’s starter early in the 2010 season. After guiding the Bills to a 4-2 record to open 2011, Nix and the Bills rewarded Fitzpatrick with a new six-year, $59-million contract — $24 million of which was guaranteed.

Last summer at training camp I asked Nix if he, in effect, had tied his regime’s fate to those Bills he’d re-signed — namely, Fitzpatrick, wide receiver Stevie Johnson and running back Fred Jackson.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Nix said. “I’ve never had any doubts about Fitz, and obviously the other two, they’ve proven themselves also. And we feel good about it.”

But by late last season it was clear to all, finally even Nix, that Fitzpatrick was not the answer. Nix cut him in March. Fitzpatrick is now Jake Locker’s backup in Tennessee.

And then there’s Mario Williams.

Last off-season, Nix convinced Wilson and Brandon to sign the free-agent defensive end to a six-year, $100-million contract, with $50 million guaranteed. While Williams was not a bust, he struggled over the first two months of the season with a wrist injury, unable to play anything like the quarterback-sacking force the team had expected him to be.

Williams had a surgical procedure done at mid-season to help heal his sore wrist, and he finished 2012 as one of the NFL’s top pass-rushing ends in a 4-3 defence, with 10.5 sacks.

UPDATED: SATURDAY noon May 11, with 10 takeaway observations:

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Quarterback EJ Manuel and the Buffalo Bills rookies hit the field for the first time on Friday, as the weekend’s mini-camp for rookies opened.

Ten takeaway observations:

1. EJ MANUEL. Manuel was what I expected after seeing him work out at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January. He has a fast release, if a bit awkward/pushy at times. But he possesses plenty of arm strength and displays more touch than he’s commonly given credit for. His accuracy was off more than you’d like but, hey, it was Day 1 of rookie camp. He still has his name taped to his helmet, fercryinoutloud.

2. HURRY UP? MORE LIKE SLOW DOWN. I get it. The new Bills coaching staff was working with new players on the field for the first time on Friday. Elementary stuff. Manuel said they’d installed just 15 basic plays so far. Still, I expected a much faster pace to the proceedings, as hurry-up teams generally wedge as many reps as possible into practices to mimic game-day rhythms. That’s probably to come.

3. DUSTIN HOPKINS. “It went pretty well,” the rookie placekicker told me afterward. Media were restricted to the indoor facility so I couldn’t tell if he was booting field goals outside before the monsoon came and practically dented the barn’s metal roof. Inside, Hopkins worked on kickoffs. While it was tough from our midfield vantage point to see exactly how deep his kickoffs landed, some did go beyond the back line of the end zone. One even went into the field-goal netting. All appeared to reach the end zone. “All things considered, first day it was good to just get back into the swing of things,” Hopkins said. “Today was the first day of work in a while (for me). I thought it went well.” The sixth-round pick out of Florida State explained how his Seminoles coaches preferred height to depth on his kickoffs, so he’s transitioning. “I think (Bills coaches) would like a touchback every  time. If I could, that would be (ideal).”

4. MANUEL’S BEST THROW. A 20-yard out, thrown from the far hash, to 2012 free-agent wideout signee Chris Hogan from Monmouth College. Perfect placement, plenty of zip. A prime example of what NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell means when he says on some throws, arm strength is essential for an NFL passer. A weak-armed QB never would have got the ball to Hogan on that route, on that throw, before he’d have gone out of bounds.

5. MANUEL’S WORST THROW. The session-ending pick by Dominique Ellis, an undrafted free agent out of South Carolina State. The pass was intended for undrafted wideout signee Kevin Norrell from Stony Brook. Norrell might have slipped, but Manuel’s pass was way high and behind him. Ellis easily made the pick.

6. CATCH OF THE DAY. You’ve probably heard or read about this one already. Brandon Kaufman made a fantastic one-handed stab on a 15-yard out to the left. Kaufman is a tweener — tight end height (6-foot-5) with wideout weight (215 pounds). But if his hands are as good as he showed on Friday, he might surprise at camp.

7. DA’RICK’S DROPSIES. Undrafted free agent wideout Da’Rick Rogers dropped at least two balls from Manuel, on simple routes such as quick slants or crosses. He’s got the height you like in an outside receiver (6-foot-3) and is solidly built — appearing thicker than his listed 205-pound weight. I missed it if he ever ran a go route, to see how fast he is. A disappointing first day. As he told reporters afterward, his off-field troubles at college in Tennessee scared 31 other NFL teams away; Buffalo was the only team that offered him a free-agent contract after the draft, he said.

8. GRAGG. If that isn’t a great name for a mucker of a tight end, what is? No. 89 — the team’s seventh-round pick who signed his rookie contract just before this mini-camp — caught balls from Tyler Wilson and Ryan Mallett at Arkansas. On first glance, didn’t seem to be as fluid a big man as some of today’s star NFL tight ends. Gragg has a great opportunity to make the club, given its paltry depth at that position.

9. WOODS … WOOT! Fantastic hands. Manuel ripped several short, hard passes into him and Robert Woods, the second-round pick out of USC, stuck every one. Made it look easy, even. Seemed perfectly comfortable in traffic, too. Didn’t hedge a bit. He’s got the build of a slot receiver all the way — 6-foot, 190 — but his surehandedness and playmaking ability make him valuable wherever head coach Doug Marrone and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett choose to line him up. Should be a Day 1 starter.

10. KIKO ALONSO. Must confess I didn’t pay much attention to the second-round linebacker. But 7-on-7s don’t provide great looks anyway for LBs. Marrone talked afterward about the Oregon product’s feistiness. Helmets and shorts — no hitting!

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Below, my photos from Friday…

EJ Manuel, between throws.

EJ Manuel, talking to reporters afterward.

Second-round draft pick Robert Woods, WR, USC.

Head coach Doug Marrone peers purposefully at his post-practice presser. 

Sure-handed undrafted free agent WR Brandon Kaufman snared this quick slant, and also made a great one-handed stab on a deeper crossing pattern. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Denver native went to Eastern Washington University.

Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett worked closely with QBs EJ Manuel and Jeff Tuel, the undrafted rookie out of Washington State.

Fourth-round pick Duke Williams (27), a safety, and undrafted DB Jordan Dangerfield run a drill.

Bills GM Buddy Nix and director of pro personnel, Tom Gibbons, watch from afar.

EJ Manuel is about twice as tall and heavy as some guy named Doug Flutie, whose presence yet remains at the Bills indoor practice facility.

Manuel and Hackett.

Low indoor light + slow lens + fast release = blurry arms. See below as well.

Bills OL coach Pat Morris works with undrafted guard Zack Chibane on his technique.

The boss watches closely.

WR Da’Rick Rogers, undrafted from Tennessee Tech, said his troublesome past is behind him (he told reporters) after looking inward and blaming no one but himself. He’s big, thick and solid — 6-foot-3, 205 pounds — but had a couple of drops. One was a laser quick-slant from Manuel.

Manuel zips one into Da’Rick Rogers’ hands.

Of course, Tuel was 2nd in pecking-order reps at QB.

Tuel said he knows some guy named Drew Bledsoe quite well. They’re both Washington State alums.

This probably wasn’t the last time EJ Manuel will address reporters at the indoor practice facility podium.

Da’Rick Rogers awaits his turn to catch a pass from Manuel in warmups.

(HUGE thanks to Chris Jenkins and Buffalo Bills PR department, FSU PR, Allison Harrell of NFL PR and Jackie Manuel herself for accompanying photos. ABOVE: E.J. Manuel shortly after being selected by the Bills on Thursday, flanked by dad Erik, mom Jackie [in red], sister Amber far left, his grandmothers, agent Joshua Hare and others. Photo of E.J. with dad taken Friday in Orchard Park, N.Y.)

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NEW YORK – When Jackie Manuel found out late last summer she had breast cancer, she worried.

Not so much about her own fate.

But about how on earth she’d go about informing her son — Erik Rodriguez Manuel Jr., more commonly known as E.J. Manuel, the only quarterback selected Thursday night in Round 1 of the NFL draft (by the Buffalo Bills).

“Honestly, when I got my diagnosis, E.J. was the last one in the family to know because we just didn’t know how we could tell him,” Jackie Manuel said in a phone interview on Friday morning from her Manhattan hotel room.

Yes, the Virginia Beach, Va.-based Manuel family — also comprising husband Erik Sr. and 26-year-old daughter Amber, a former collegiate athlete in her own right — is indeed that tight.

After finally being informed, E.J.’s reaction to the potentially tragic news on the eve of his senior season at Florida State University speaks so much, not only about the impressive young man, but about the solid ways in which Jackie and husband Erik Sr. raised him.

“E.J.’s strength …,” Jackie said in amazement. “He encouraged me on days when I probably should have been encouraging him.”

*  *  *

On that late-summer morning, Jackie Manuel was readying herself for work as travel coordinator for the Old Dominion University athletic department, just like on any other day. Then her life changed.

“I found a lump on my breast,” she said. “I went to my doctor and did all the tests, and it came back positive for Stage 2 breast cancer.

“So I had to do eight rounds of chemo, and I had surgery on the 1st of February, and I’m just finishing up my radiation treatments now. I’ll be done with that around the 1^st of May.”

The surgery, almost three months ago now, was a success. The cancer was removed.

“Thank God it had not spread to any other parts of my body,” said Jackie (in photo she supplied, above, top left, along with daughter Amber, upper right, and EJ’s grandmothers). “Chemo was pretty rough at times. I think I probably missed about four to five games during Florida State’s season, just because my immune system was so fragile. I just couldn’t travel as much.

“But it was a process, and through lots of prayer, and encouragement and my support system, we were able to endure. The cancer is in remission. All the blood work looks good, and I just have to have my checkups every so often to make sure everything is OK.”

Over the past eight months, then, E.J. has had so much more on his mind than merely piloting the FSU Seminoles to another winning season, to winning his NCAA-record tying fourth bowl game by a quarterback and, up to Thursday, to devoting all of his energies and focus to the crazy four-month NFL draft cycle.

“Despite what I was going through, I just feel like every opportunity that E.J. had to prove his ability, his intelligence and his skills, he stepped up to the plate,” Jackie said.

*   *   *

Starting in January, E.J. Manuel has impressed the hell out of NFL teams and writers alike — basically, anyone who got to spend time with him. Especially the Buffalo Bills, of course.

If you’re a man, he’ll call you sir, or Mr. so-and-so, and as he does so he’ll burn two holes through the back of your head as looks you right in the eyes. He’s polite as well as respectful — and as articulate as he is thoughtful.

Such apples don’t fall far from the tree. Not that Jackie said she and Erik, a hazardous-materials specialist with the Department of Defense, want any pats on the back for that. Instead, she points to the family’s deep Christian faith.

“We’re believers, and it’s hard for us to take credit because we know that without our faith and without God, we wouldn’t be where we are now — and we don’t have any problems with telling people that.

“We basically just have tried to live our lives the way He would want us to live, and we’re proud of that.”

And yet, as is so often the case with parents who truly care, Jackie and Erik actively steered E.J. down the right path. Together since they were high school sweethearts as sophomores in Norfolk, Va., the couple taught E.J. the critical values of accomplishment, of completing tasks, and of the notion that only hard work begets the best rewards.

For instance, if E.J. (which stands for “Erik Jr.,” Jackie said) didn’t finish his homework, well then no sports, no going anywhere to do anything. Period.

E.J. ate it up.

It soon got to the point where he beat himself up over a poor mark on a test, far more than his parents ever would.

“In sports he was a great pitcher, a great basketball player, great football player — but he got it done in the classroom as well. So my husband (right, with E.J. at One Bills Drive on Friday) often used to say, ‘Wow! Is it from my side of the family or your side of the family?!’ We both couldn’t wait to graduate from high school. We were like, ‘Do you think his high school made a mistake?’ (laughs)

“He’s always been just a special kid … He was always a leader. You never had to worry about him following the wrong crowd, or just being influenced by the wrong kind of people.

“He was the type of kid where sometimes you have to tell him, ‘It’s OK to get a B or a B-. You don’t have to get an A all the time. He just has this self-drive. And it used to worry me, because I used to worry that, OK, if something doesn’t go right is this going to make him freak out? It’s not that he’s a perfectionist, but he just knows what he can accomplish and is so self-driven for it.”

When E.J. accepted a full-ride scholarship to Florida State in 2008, the family debated relocating to Tallahassee. Erik said no.

“Trust me, I tried — I tried!” Jackie said. “But my husband was like, ‘We are NOT moving to Tallahassee. He’s going to stay there and he’s going to become a man on his own, and he’ll be fine.’”

E.J. wasn’t so fine after redshirting in 2008, then backing up Christian Ponder to start his redshirt-freshman 2009 season.

“I think there were sometimes when he was frustrated that he wasn’t the starter,” Jackie said. “But then I think he matured when he realized that patience is important. Delayed does not mean denied. Sometimes you have to be patient, and stand in line … I think he really, really understands that now and can appreciate that better.

“Even though he didn’t start as early as he thought he could have at Florida State, he never said, ‘I want to transfer.’ My husband always said, ‘Once you start something, finish it, because you’ve got to satisfy yourself. And you don’t want to move prematurely, and then when your blessing comes, you’re not there to take advantage of it.”

Amber, E.J.’s older sister, similarly benefitted from Jackie and Erik’s upbringing. From 2004-08 she played basketball at High Point University in High Point, N.C. Amber ranks among the top overall players, statistically, in the program’s Division I history. And she became the first member of the family to earn a degree.

“She’s just like E.J.,” Jackie said. “Manners, intelligence. We’re really proud of her, too.”

*   *   *

At FSU, E.J. Manuel started games in all four seasons, won those four bowl games, broke school passing records, and finished his college career as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s record-holder in yards per passing attempt (8.6) and owns the ACC’s third best career completion percentage (66.9).

He graduated with a communications degree in December 2011 and is halfway done work on his Master’s degree in international relations.

E.J. was invited to January’s Senior Bowl — a post-season all-star game featuring the cream-of-the-crop NFL draft prospects.

It was there that he had the chance to show more than just the people of coastal Virginia and North Florida his strong character, that his mind is in the right place, and that he possesses an uncommon ability to sound supremely confident in his own abilities, without a trace of dislikeable cockiness or phoniness.

When I asked six of the top quarterback prospects at the Senior Bowl what was his best attribute as a quarterback, the other five rattled off something about their physical skills.

Not Manuel.

“I think mainly just a winning mindset,” he told me unhesitatingly. “Obviously, my physical skills kind of speak for themselves. I have the size, and I can throw, I can run. But I think mainly it’s the pedigree in my mind … I finished 26-6 as a starter at Florida State, so I think I can do the same thing in the NFL.”

On Thursday night, not long after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell handed a teary-eyed E.J. his Buffalo Bills hat and jersey as the 16^th overall pick (right, Reuters), he confessed that at the time he was thinking about his mother, about her struggles over the past eight months, and “about all the hard work my parents have done, and myself and my sister — and all of it coming together tonight. It was a great feeling.”

As the bright midday sun on Friday cut harsh shadows between the skyscrapers of Manhattan, Jackie was no less reflective — especially on how E.J. was able to persevere through the tumult of her cancer scare.

“It made me realize how he’s really a young man now — his maturing — and just seeing how strong, and encouraged and focused he was able to stay through it all. Seeing that actually helped me, as well.”

NEW YORK – E.J. Manuel was the first — and only — quarterback taken on Day 1 of the 2013 NFL draft.

And he’s the first ever selected by the Buffalo Bills with their first pick –  in any of the franchise’s 54 drafts! Seriously.

“I had a great feeling about Buffalo,” the 6-foot-4 5/8, 237-pound native of Virginia Beach, Va., said in an interview in a side hallway of Radio City Music Hall.

“I thought when I met with them I was able to show them my football intellect, and what I could do on and off the field. And I think they trust me to come in and represent them as they want me to, as far as the whole franchise.”

Most people figured the quarterback-desperate Bills would pick a signal-caller, but the club got creative in doing so.

The Bills started the day with only six picks — not enough to fill all their yawning holes.

But in swapping first-rounders with the St.Louis Rams (Buffalo gave up its No. 8 and gained St. Louis’ first, 16^th overall), the Bills also picked up a second-rounder (46^th) and a seventh-rounder (222^nd) from the Rams. The Bills also swapped third-rounders with St. Louis — their 71^st for the Rams’ 78^th.

It was with the 16th pick that the Bills selected Manuel.

Bills GM Buddy Nix was under immense pressure to draft a quarterback early and give the moribund franchise –which hasn’t made the playoffs since 1999, the longest drought in the league — some hope for the future.

Why Manuel — a Florida State product — over the more highly touted Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkely and Geno Smith?

“We felt like we knew them about as well as you could from a distance,” Nix told Buffalo reporters. “This guy, to us, has got the upside to be whatever you want him to be.

“We researched him every way you can and we just feel good about the upside.”

Manuel, 23, has a strong arm and quick delivery. He’s fast, too, and is a natural leader.

He said his pre-draft visit to Buffalo might have sealed it.

“I met with (offensive coordinator Nathaniel) Hackett probably for four or five hours,” he told me. “I thought he and I got along great. I learned his offence probably for four hours, and I understood everything, even not knowing if they were going to take me or not.

“I think that said a lot about myself to him.

“What he was teaching me is very similar to what I learned at Florida State. The biggest difference is this is going to be a pure progression offence, which I’m extremely excited about to play in.”

Did he run much hurry-up with the Seminoles?

“Yeah, we did some hurry-up offence, and I saw Ryan Nassib have some success with that at Syracuse. I plan on doing the same thing in Buffalo.”

Manuel said being the first quarterback taken in the NFL draft is quite an honour.

“It feels great,” he told me, wearing the biggest smile. “To see where people were saying I was going to go back in January, to now being the first quarterback taken — it’s incredible. I knew I just had to go out and work hard. And I did it not by myself. I had a great team. My agent (Joshua Hare) did a great job. Everybody helped to train me to get into a position to do this.

“I knew I had to earn the respect of these guys who have these opinions on TV, so I just went out there and worked hard and it happened.”

For instance, heading into the scouting combine in Indianapolis in late February, NFL Network’s draft expert Mike Mayock did not rate Manuel among the Top 5 quarterbacks. Two weeks later, on March 7, Mayock raised Manuel to No. 2, behind only Smith, based on how much Manuel impressed NFL people both on the field and off.

I was the first reporter to get Manuel’s reaction that day, catching him at an airport in Tampa. He sounded pleased, but not surprised that his stock was rising, nor bitter that he’d been largely overlooked before that.

At his news conference here about an hour and a half after the Bills selected him, Manuel was still grinning a lot. Who can blame him?

Manuel explained that he couldn’t help but shed a tear when he went out on stage to get his jersey and cap from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I was telling myself I’m not going to cry, because my parents are definitely emotional people,” he told reporters. “I was thinking about what we’ve gone through with my Mom, what she’s battled through (cancer). But I just started thinking about all the hard work my parents have done and myself, and my sister, and all of it coming together tonight. It was just a great feeling.”

Manuel’s mother has battled breast cancer. She is still taking radiation treatments but, Manuel said she’s “in remission. She’s cancer-free right now … Her hair’s growing back and she’s starting to look like herself. I’m proud and happy for her, and I know she’s ecstatic right now.”

She was in attendance with other family members here at New York, which Manuel said meant the world.

It was strange, wasn’t it?, that most draftniks did not give Manuel a first-round grade, yet he was invited to be here along with 22 other prospects. And then he was taken 16th.

I asked him if that gave him the hint that good news might come out of it.

“I think so, whether it was going to be first or second round. Besides the first round, I was more so happy to have my family here. To allow us to come here and enjoy this together as a family. I’d rather be here than Virginia Beach. Where else would you want to be but New York City for the draft?”

I asked him if either Nix or Marrone told him anything about being able to compete for the starting job.

“It wasn’t really brought up,” Manuel said. “Obviously, they invest a first-round pick in you and trade up to take you, you obviously know what it is. Sorry, I’m just excited now. I’m at a loss for words right now. I’m just looking forward to getting there and shaking their hands and getting started and getting ready to go to work.”

On competing with Kevin Kolb, he said: “I’m looking forward to learning from him. He’s been in the league four, five, six years now. He’s a great quarterback. They brought him in. Looking forward to learning from those guys. I feel like we’re all learning from day one because of the training camp we have.”

Told that the Bills fanbase is rabid, Manuel smiled — again.

“Happy to have this hat on — red, white and blue. I’m excited. That’s all I can say right now.”

NEW YORK – Matthew Stafford, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and … Eric Fisher.

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night sliced the four-year string of big-buzz quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall in the NFL entry draft.

For the first time since 2008, the ‘glamour boy’ of the rookie ranks isn’t a signal-caller. Rather, as with the last time in ’08, it’s a left offensive tackle from the state of Michigan.

Ho-hum.

Fans who packed Radio City Music Hall — most wedged behind the 32 team tables, TV setups and press rows, and into the balconies above — were so bored before Kansas City used up all 10 minutes to mull the pick, they started the wave.

The 6-foot-7 ¼, 306-pound Fisher hails from Central Michigan University. The ’08 No. 1 pick was Jake Long, from the University of Michigan, now with the St. Louis Rams.

Outside of uber-draftniks, Fisher was known by practically no one until January. He is the first player from the Mid American Conference to be taken in the Top 5, let alone No. 1.

The only major-conference universities that gave Fisher so much as a sniff coming out of high school were Purdue and Michigan State of the Big Ten, both of whom ultimately passed on him. Instead, he went to school in tiny, remote Mount Pleasant, Mich.

“This is so surreal. Standing here right now is a dream come true,” Fisher, 22, said on stage. “I’m obviously grateful.

“I’m ready to get to work right now and play some football.”

The only drama for weeks atop the 78^th annual NFL entry draft was which offensive tackle the Chiefs would select — Fisher or Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M University. Most draftniks had given the edge to the 6-foot-6, 306-pound Joeckel.

Wrong.

Some say Fisher has a meaner mean streak. He dropped jaws with his prototypical physique, technique and intangibles at Senior Bowl practices in January, when his stock began to skyrocket. On first glance Fisher looks like a solid, toned athlete merely enlarged.

Job No. 1 for Pick No. 1 is to protect the backside of new pocket-passing K.C. quarterback Alex Smith, the former San Francisco 49er acquired last month in a trade.

With the second pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Joeckel.

“It’s way better than I thought it would be,” Joeckel said on stage of being picked so high. “I’m so fired up.”

Two picks, two tackles. Few cheers here.

But then the fun began. The Oakland Raiders dealt their No. 3 pick to the Miami, for the Dolphins’ 12^th overall pick and second rounder, 42^nd overall. The Dolphins quickly selected Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan.

I asked Jordan on Wednesday if he cared what kind of defence he played in.

“Naw, man, I just want to chase quarterbacks. That’s it,” Jordan said. “If they can find a job for me to do that, I’m good.”

He’s good.

The Philadelphia Eagles made it three left tackles in four picks, selecting Lane Johnson of Oklahoma. Most draftniks had him a sliver below both Fisher and Joeckel, but some think he has a higher upside.

Inside Radio City Music Hall, T-minus 2.5 hours till the Chiefs are on the clock.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock held court Wednesday morning with a handful of NFL writers at Chelsea Waterside Park. I was there for part of it, and have finally got around to transcribing some of it. As you count down the seconds to 8 pm EDT, here ya go …

ON QBs IN ROUND 1:
“I’m having a problem finding a spot for any quarterback in the first round. I might have Geno Smith at 6 to Cleveland, and that’s more Joe Banner driven than anything. I don’t feel comfortable with that. I don’t think he should go at 6. But if he doesn’t go at 6, I think the whole quarterback thing slides to the bottom of the first round. I think teams will be anxious to trade back up at the late 1 — a) to get value, and b) to get that five-year contract instead of four.”

TAVON AUSTIN TOP 10?
“I have trouble getting him past in my mock draft — the two places I’m looking at are Buffalo and New York at 8 and 9. You know what happened is … he’s 173 pounds, and who does he compare to in the NFL? We can’t find anybody, and NFL teams hate that. There’s an uncertainty there. And I think the kid’s overcome that with his passion for the game.”

IS TE TYLER EIFERT MORE A SURE DEAL AS A PASS CATCHER THAN ANY OF THE WIDE RECEIVERS?
“I think Eifert, his game, size and what he does fits today’s NFL to a T. He is a vertical tight end that can catch the football, get by as a blocker. I have him going to the Jets at 13, so that tells you how strongly I think about him. I think if you’re worried — and it’s a good question — if you’re worried about the wide receiver class, and the way I’m looking at it, you need (Mark) Sanchez to be more productive and you don’t like the guys on the edge? I’m plugging Eifert in the middle.”

RHODES AHEAD OF TRUFANT AMONG CBs?
“One of the hot-button issues when I talk to teams has been with the success of the longer corners in Seattle, and now Gus (Bradley) goes to Jacksonville, and now Chip (Kelly) goes to Philadelphia — and he likes big defensive players — there’s been a conversation all off-season (about) how high should we start to push some of these longer corners? And the conversation with the coaches is, OK, I’ll give up a little bit of stiffness in coverage to get more length. I’m tired of my 5-foot-9, quick-footed corner with great coverage getting beat by a bigger guy on a back-shoulder throw. So I think some of the longer guys are going to get pushed up this year. When you mention Rhodes, I mean, I’m a (D.J.) Hayden guy. I think D.J. Hayden on my board is No. 1. He and (Dee) Milliner and then (Xavier) Rhodes and then (Desmond) Trufant. Where you’re going to see some interesting things is a guy like Sanders Commings from Georgia, who I think is a pretty good college football player. He’s 6-foot-1, he’s long, he’s put together. I think he’s going to get pushed up in, say, the third round — when in other years he wouldn’t be. (With cornerback) it’s about picking your flavour. What kind of quarterback do you want?”

INJURY CONCERNS
“I’m seeing more legitimate injury concerns than I’ve ever seen at the top end of the draft. It’s kind of difficult because NFL teams, as they should be, are very quiet about the real injury information. And then the rumours start everywhere … I get to this point every year — OK, what’s real and what’s smoke? And I know for a fact there are several significant injuries, and I’m not saying they’re taking people off the board, but enough where you’ve got to double-check some of these guys. There’s been a lot of talk about Dee Milliner. There’s legitimate stuff on him. There’s legitimate stuff on Chance Warmack. Am I saying they’re off boards? No. I’m just saying that if there are legitimate injury concerns — not necessarily about whether or not you’re going to play this year, but what the length of your career might be because of a degenerative situation in a knee or a shoulder or whatever — one team might say, that’s fine. I just want to get him to one contract and we’ll figure it out. Other teams might say, naaah, I’m thinking I need more than that at a high-level pick. It’s really fascinating.”

NEW YORK – By now you might have read more than you care to admit about the top prospects in this year’s NFL draft.

But what about the hundreds of players who cling to an outside shot of getting drafted on Day 3, or who hope merely to receive an offer afterward as an undrafted free agent?

One such player is a quarterback you’ve almost surely never heard of.

Ryan Osiecki started for four years at the University of New Haven in Connecticut — a Division II college.

NFLdraftscout.com has Osiecki rated 39th out of 111 quarterbacks on its draft board — just behind Graham Wilbert of Florida Atlantic, and just ahead of T.J. Pryor of Eastern Kentucky.

Pronounced o-SHEH-ski, the 24-year-old wasn’t invited to February’s NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, along with all the glamour-boy signal-callers. Instead, he had to fight his way along the pre-draft road just to get invited to the league’s Super Regional combine in Dallas on April 7.

“That went really well,” Osiecki said in a phone interview from Central Florida, where he’s been refining his skills at the Performance Compound since January.

“I talked with the Dallas Cowboys there. They definitely showed some interest.”

To qualify for the Super Regional, the 6-foot-3 1/2, 240-pounder first had to impress NFL talent evaluators at a qualifying regional combine. Osiecki did just that on March 9 in Tampa.

In rewriting myriad school passing record at New Haven, the Connecticut native showed off a helluva gun. How far can he throw a football?

“I’d say 70 yards,” Osiecki said.

Er, that’s NFL worthy all right.

What he must work on, and is, is his footwork and escapability in the pocket.

Osiecki was a clutch performer at UNH. On YouTube you can see him zip a game-ending, 50-yard Hail Mary into the end zone that won a big game last season, and loft a nice short post-corner fade near the goal line to win another in the dying seconds.

The odds of any quarterback not selected in the first round becoming a success in today’s NFL aren’t great. Sixth-round Tom Bradys are rare indeed.

“I don’t even worry about that,” Osiecki said. “I just do what I have to do every day, and hope something good happens. Hopefully I play in the NFL some day.”

Osiecki does not have a posse. Nor an entourage. He’ll be watching the draft at home, just with his family.

Probably with fingers crossed. Like hundreds of other pro football hopefuls.

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THE SOUTH KEEPS ON RISING, TALENT-WISE:

NEW YORK – When you hear or read that all the best players in U.S. college football now come from the South, believe it.

Not a single player from the Big Ten conference — which stretches in the North from Nebraska to Pennsylvania — was represented Wednesday among top prospects invited to attend the NFL draft.

The only player schooled in the Midwest was offensive tackle Eric Fisher, of Central Michigan — a Mid American Conference school. (EDIT: I originally named him Jeff Fisher. Long day, folks.)

As for the South? Alabama and Florida State each has four players who’ll walk the red carpet at Radio City  Music Hall on Thursday night.

LSU has two. So does West Virginia.

With one: Florida, Southern Methodist, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi State, Texas, Texas A&M and Brigham Young.

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TWITTER THE PLACE TO GO — OR AVOID — FOR DRAFT-PICK SPOILERS:

NEW YORK – If you hate draft-pick spoilers, you should avoid Twitter during the NFL draft.

And if you love them, go there.

Whereas both rights-holding networks — ESPN and NFL Network — vow to not tip the picks this year as they’ve done in the past, thanks to the dogged reporting of their plugged-in insiders, other NFL journalists are under no such obligation.

They’ll report what they learn, as they learn it, via Twitter.

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SLIMMED-DOWN SHORT AIMS TO BE A ‘HIGH-MOTOR’ GU

NEW YORK – One probably hears the term “high-motor guy” associated more often with interior defensive linemen than any other football position.

Playmaking D-linemen who are “high-motor guys” are gold in the NFL draft. That is, who don’t have it in them to take a play off.

Those without such a motor have a big question attached to their draft resumes.

Case in point: Purdue defensive tackle Kawaan (K.K.) Short. He’d probably be a Top 10 or 15 pick if he’d done more than just flashed an ability to dominate only occasionally.

Still, most draftniks have him going late in the first round, or in the second — all because of his outstanding potential.

Short was surprisingly frank about his faulty motor at the scouting combine in February.

“It was my fault that I let my motor die,” he said in Indy. “I was just trying to play a (high number) of snaps to help the team win, and doing my job. So I can say I should have tapped out a couple of times, but that’s not my character. So I’m just trying to win.

“(I was) getting feedback from the NFL, and from the different coaches, that – ya know, my motor tends to die out. So my whole goal was to drop a little bit of weight, go into the Senior Bowl and try to be a guy that stands out.”

And so, a guy who entered Purdue five years ago at 335 pounds and usually played around 320 with the Boilermakers, worked himself down to 308 by late January, and to 299 at the combine.

When was the last time he’d been under 299?

“Ssshhheee. Sixth grade – naw, I’m just playin’. But I want to say middle school, actually.”

Can he rev that motor more consistently at this weight?

“Yeah, I feel more versatile now,” Short said. “My conditioning is way better than it used to be. I can play a lot more, I can run a lot more, and I can hustle.”

Amazing, isn’t it? — when push comes to shove — what can motivate a young man.

NEW YORK – Mississippi State cornerback Darius Slay (above, right — AFP) confirmed Wednesday he has a meniscus tear in his left knee.

But in an interview at Chelsea Waterside Park a day before the NFL draft, he said it’s nothing to be concerned about.

“It’s not a real big tear,” Slay said. “I found out I had a little tear in it. But it didn’t slow me down in any workouts. I’ve been doing pretty well with it.

“I had a rest, then I had a good couple of workouts — I did one actually on Friday, with the Atlanta Falcons, and it went pretty good.”

Slay generally is regarded as one of the top three or four cornerback prospects. He stands 5-foot-11 7/8, weighs 192 pounds and ran two times of 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in February — blazing fast.

The meniscus tear was revealed in an MRI conducted by the Tennessee Titans on Slay’s pre-draft visit “about a month ago,” Slay said. He hasn’t had the knee scoped.

“No, most (doctors) told me just to get ice and steam (treatments) because it ain’t that bad,” Slay said. “And ice and steam healed it up. I’ll be ready to go. It should heal on its own.”

Have teams been asking him about the injury? Oh yeah.

“They’re just making sure I’m still going strong. So what they did is they came out and worked me out to see how I’m moving. But I still move real fluently and I’m doing pretty good.

“It didn’t slow me down. I can still go out there and run a 4.3 now. It’s not that big a deal … It’s football. You get banged up.”

Slay said whichever team drafts him at whatever spot is going to get a solid cornerback.

“My speed and my size and the competitiveness I have in me are going to push me a long way,” he said.

“I’ve got the size for it, so I’m ready to compete. That’s basically it.”