<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>NFC GM says Johnny Manziel a weapon more than QB so team must fit O to him, play outside pocket to use assets, minimize lack of ideal size.</p>— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Edwerderespn/statuses/421060960611078144">January 8, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>GM cites Manziel's competitiveness in refusing to slide and reliance on Jump balls that will be INT in NFL as necessary changes in approach</p>— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Edwerderespn/statuses/421061468147036161">January 8, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It seems as though Johnny Football is going to have to play in a way similar to RG3 as rookie, which ultimately proved disastrous.</p>— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Edwerderespn/statuses/421061910310567936">January 8, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>When you hear the naysayers question whether <a href="https://twitter.com/JManziel2">@JManziel2</a> will be a good pro. Remember, many of those same guys said Ryan Nassib was a No.1</p>— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/BuckyBrooks/statuses/421072592368189440">January 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
FWIW, at this point last year, Bucky Brooks thought the Chiefs would take Geno Smith #1 overall. http://www.nfl.com/draft/2013/mock-drafts/bucky-brooks/155114
To be fair, a lot of folks had Geno Smith as the top guy. As for Nassib, not sure if he's talking about number one overall or number one as in round one. I don't remember Nassib for number one overall. Nassib as a first round pick? Yeah, I think that was out there at one point.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...um=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national ... With Manziel officially in the draft, NFL scouts can speak more freely about his draft stock. One AFC West scout told me that Manziel would be a top-10 pick, and probably top five. Another former NFL front office executive likened Manziel to a cross between "Russell Wilson and Brett Favre." That might seem like hyperbole, but Manziel is highly regarded among scouts and executives who have bought in on the mobile quarterback trend. Those teams who aren't impressed with running quarterbacks are likely to view Manziel much differently, of course. His style, on and off the field, is not for everyone. The question marks with Manziel are as long as his impressive list of accomplishments. He's small for the position, expected to come in around 5'11" and 210 pounds. That's roughly the same size as Russell Wilson, though, and he's doing just fine as a professional. The other concern I hear most from NFL scouts isn't about Manziel's well-known night life, but about his style of play. He's an amazing athlete, but his run-around style that worked so well in the SEC is troubling to NFL teams that see a small quarterback running for his life in the pocket. The team that drafts Manziel must commit to letting him be the wild card that he is in and out of the pocket. The biggest mistake you could make initially would be to cage him and attempt to make him something he's not. Best to roll with the ups and downs while he learns on the job. Mechanically, there is good and bad to his game. Manziel still tends to throw off his back foot far too often, but fix that and you also improve his velocity on underneath passes. What you like is that he's athletic enough to throw on the run and shows the strength to make tight throws from various angles and body positions. He has also shown impressive touch on passes up the seam and over the middle. The positives to Manziel's game are bigger than you might think. He's the most instinctive quarterback in this year's class and rates similar to Robert Griffin III in terms of his ability to process information on the fly and make adjustments as needed. Manziel also developed as a passer this year, showing much better ball placement on throws to all levels of the field. Add in his ability to make plays with his feet along with his high-level field vision and it's easy to see why NFL scouts love Manziel as much as they do. Looking at the 2014 draft as it stands today, it's tough to see Manziel lasting longer than No. 5 overall. With four teams (Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland and Oakland) in the top five picks all needing a quarterback, Manziel figures to be one of the first players announced at Radio City Music Hall on May 8.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Good answer by O'Brien on Manziel and draft.. " He is special but we are a long ways off from decisions" <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23texans&src=hash">#texans</a></p>— Randy McIlvoy (@RandyMcIlvoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RandyMcIlvoy/statuses/421109973456658432">January 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Correct. <iframe src="http://player.theplatform.com/p/zT2_HC/iEazkwCwmKPM/embed/select/ioM__PNFzgYK?params=zone%3Dcsnvideo&autoPlay=false" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" seamless="seamless" allowfullscreen>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe> In before Clutch moves this.
Love Johnny, but I'm pretty sure I could post a decent passer rating throwing jump balls to Mike Evans. Just close your eyes and lob them up there and you'd get 50%.
So true! Mike did nothing in college before Manziel starting throwing to him....oh wait, they are both sophomores. Those tweets from Ed werder are some of the concerns I have. His attitude will have to change a little in the NFL, meaning he will have to be a little more conservative at times. He can't routinely try to squeeze out extra yardage by not sliding and he can't always try to force the big play (I remember a few Ints at the goal line when he was forcing the issue and trying to make a big play) . There is a fine line that he will have to balance between him being a playmaker and gunslinger vs. controlling the game and playing smart. Too much of one will take away what he does best and too much of the other will make him a turnover machine and/or injury ridden.
Scouts realize that. It's all factored. Manziel threw those passes because they were high percentage attempts, not because he had to. They were calculated. You didn't see Manziel throwing up lobs to Labhart. When people bring up the Evans' lobs they seem to be penalizing Manziel instead of acknowledging that he was maximizing his resources. Should he have stopped throwing those passes? If Luck had Evans at Stanford would throwing lobs to him hurt his draft stock? Of course not.
