Only four weeks into the 2014-2015 NFL season and the Buffalo Bills coaching staff is giving up on second-year quarterback EJ Manuel, replacing him with veteran, and former Purdue Boilermaker, Kyle Orton.
Phin Phanatic
Orton was granted his release from the Dallas Cowboys during the offseason and signed a two-year, $11 million contract with the Bills before the season begin. The amount of money given to Orton caused speculation that Manuel was going into the season on a short leash and it seems that was completely true.
The Bills are not handing over the reins to an unproven quarterback by any means. Orton’s last start came in Week 16 last season with the Cowboys. He finished the game 30-of-46 for 358 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 24-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Orton’s career has been a roller coaster ride. At Purdue he became one of the best quarterbacks to don the Black and Gold. When he finished up his four year stint he had landed in the Big Ten Top 10 in most categories: 6th in Pass Completions (786), 6th in Pass Attempts (1,336), 8th in Passing Yards (9,337), 11th in Passing Touchdowns (63), 10th in Total Yards (9, 563) and 23rd in Total Touchdowns (23).
Pretty impressive college stats for a guy who played in 44 out of a possible 52 games in his four college seasons.
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He replaced Rex Grossman in the second game of his rookie season and took the Bears to an 11-6 record – 10-5 as a starter. After a couple years in Chicago, Orton was traded to the Denver Broncos for Jay Cutler. He’s been floating around the league ever since 2011.
But now he has a chance to reclaim some of his past glory, especially with a solid offense around him. Orton may not be able to pull out a winning record with the Buffalo Bills, but he can’t do much worse than what Manuel has done in his short 14 game career.