Johnny Manziel, The Hype, The Man, The Legend?

It is no a secret that Johnny Manziel’s first start in a Cleveland Brown uniform was atrocious. But we need to further examine his future, present and past before drawing conclusions.

 Past

If you are a College Football fan you are aware of Johnny Football.

Having insane Freshmen and Sophomore seasons put him on the NFL Draft radar. But one of the main concerns with Manziel moving into the NFL was his mobility, but he has shown that he can run around and make plays. However, scrambling around like he did while with Texas A&M will not work in the NFL. The pace of NFL football and the quickness of linebackers and even defensive linemen makes it harder for scrambling QBs to be successful.

Johnny was extremely successful because of his offensive line. Jake Mathews headed an incredible line that was mobile enough to block for Manziel.

This is the main reason that Manziel was taken late in the 1st round, although he won the Heisman in just his first season starting.

Present

Johnny’s unsuccessful Sunday was mainly due to the lack of talent on the Browns offensive line. The Bengals defensive line blew the Browns off the ball that made Manziel make mistakes. Johnny was sacked 3 times and he threw 2 interception.

Regardless, Johnny needs to stay in the pocket and deliver dimes before he can move around and try to make plays. I understand that he is a “mobile” quarterback, but it is important to realize that this is the NFL. Players are smart and catch on. Just look at Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers offense. They haven’t had much success with the option or draw this season, because players and coaches caught on to the system.

10 for 18 for 80 yards is an insanely bad game, but its important to realize that there is no where to go but upward. Hoyer is for sure thinking about how he deserves to start against the Panthers next week, but the reality is that Mike Pettine is trying to get Manziel experience to move on from Hoyer. Hoyer’s contract expires after this season.

Future 

First off, it is very important to note that Johnny has matured. Not on the football field but in his life and personality. Mike Pettine has told reporters multiple time that Manziel is eager to learn and he acts like he is a rookie – he doesn’t try to demand too much attention. This was before Johnny had any probability of starting, so it gives me hope he can be successful.

Johnny can return to his college football greatness, but it would have to be the Johnny that threw for 70% completion, 4114 yards and 37 touchdowns in his Sophomore season.

Johnny’s 2 years at TAMU shows how if he reduces his rushing attempts his throwing massively improves. I’m not saying that Manziel should stop scrambling, but he needs to be a pass first quarterback.

I don’t see a Tim Tebow-esque future for Manziel. Johnny is better then Tebow, there is no doubt about it, Johnny has better throwing mechanics and accuracy. Tebow was a fad that died hard.

Johnny is going to have a job in the league for a while the only question is:

Will he be a starter or a backup to mediocre quarterbacks like Brian Hoyer?