Browns owner consults homeless man, drafts Manziel

[richard_v]

I see him racking up many running Yards this season because of the weak protection. He will not have the time to look and find a good receiver like he did at A&M, See him also get sacked a lot.

[Denny]

Here's a nice Grantland article which compared the three top QB prospects prior to the draft. I think Bridgewater and Manziel have better chances to do well in the NFL, and both the Vikings and Browns did very well to get them later in the round where they did. Jacksonville, on the other hand, reached by taking Bortles so early, and I think there's a good chance he turns out to be a bust.

[roncollins]

That is a pretty good article. But as someone who has watched Teddy Bridgewater pretty closely his entire career, he's got a metric ton of "spontaneous genius." He just doesn't use it to run as often as Manziel. He just basically makes guys miss in the backfield.

Edit: Here's the kind of play Minnesota can look forward to if Teddy needs to pull it off. :)

[Lions]

NFL defenders aren't as quick to miss.

[roncollins]

Yes. And so much of Manziel's game is based on his running. Bridgewater does it when needed, but mostly he's about using that shiftiness to extend his time in the pocket. Manziel may turn out fine. But I think a few teams will be kicking themselves in a few years. Quarterbacks whose value is strongly tied to their legs are worrisome.

Actually, Manziel reminds me of another Louisville quarterback... Stefan Lefors... Who is one of my old favorites. He made such brilliant decisions so quickly... But couldn't play well enough to stick with the NFL. So he became a star in Canada where the game favors that style and the defenders are not quite so big or fast. Lefors had a better arm than Manziel, but wasn't quite as shifty.

Edit: Added the last sentence.

[Matt]

You can learn a lot by listening.

All through the winter, Manziel's camp was trying to project some type of newfound maturity. And then he blew it, and every GM in the league with half a brain saw it. That's when Manziel dared the Texans not to take him #1. Talent evaluations aside, he's a jackass. And jackasses don't make for good quarterbacks. He doesn't have the mental makeup. He's cocky, and he's going to find the NFL a different game. He's going to get frustrated when things go wrong, he's going to point fingers, he's going to sulk, he's going to blame everyone but himself.

I remember when Matt Leinart came out of USC. In the aftermath of the BCS Championship game, Leinart acted like a spoiled brat, claiming the better team didn't win. I immediately circled the comment, and called Leinart a future NFL bust right then and there. He didn't have the mental makeup to be an NFL QB. Drafted #10 overall, and paid 51 million by the Cardinals, Leinart would go on to play in just 33 games over 6 seasons, throwing 14 td's and 21 Int's. His career qb rating, 35.8. He was a coddled and cocky punk. Same as Manziel.

I'm not even hedging my bets. I'm all in. Manziel's a bust.

EDIT: And this is fairly damning if authentic. http://www.brobible.com/sports/article/ ... -patriots/

[Coqui]

You can learn a lot by listening.

All through the winter, Manziel's camp was trying to project some type of newfound maturity. And then he blew it, and every GM in the league with half a brain saw it. That's when Manziel dared the Texans not to take him #1. Talent evaluations aside, he's a jackass. And jackasses don't make for good quarterbacks.

Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Jim Harbaugh, Joe Namath and Ben Roethlisberger beg to differ. Drew Brees to an extent, too, at least early in his career.

It's a fascinating question. At #22 overall, the risk profile for a team like the Browns is far different than if someone had selected him #1 or #2 IMHO. Is he a risk to flake out and flame out based on intangibles and off-the-field stuff? Sure. More so than most other 20 year old kids? Probably. But he is an undeniable talent who, IMHO is the two way threat QB that is best equipped of all who have come out in the last 20 years to be a NFL QB thanks to his accuracy passing and football intelligence. You don't complete nearly 70% of your passes playing in the SEC West unless you are an immense talent. He could also grow up. Not all 20 year old jackasses become 25 year old jackasses. Some do, sure. But his talent is well worth making him the 22nd overall pick, and especially for a franchise like the Browns who are just going to muddle along in worse-than-mediocrity unless they get a might big spark from somewhere.

[roncollins]

Brett Favre, Michael Vick, Jim Harbaugh, Joe Namath and Ben Roethlisberger beg to differ. Drew Brees to an extent, too, at least early in his career.

I think the only one of this crew you can really match with Manziel is Michael Vick. The other guys are far more prototypical pro quarterbacks...and I wouldn't really put Favre, Harbaugh, or Roethlisberger as far up the "me first" curve as Manziel. Perhaps that's just me, though.

I wouldn't say Vick has had a marvelous impact on either the football results or team chemistry at the end of the day. He's been serviceable, and pretty good for his first 2-4 seasons. Who can say what would have happened if he hadn't lost two seasons due to being in jail. But it seems to me that he had already peaked.

All that said, I expect Manziel will stick around for awhile. My overall point in this discussion isn't to say Manziel is good, great, or not ... it's to say that my pure opinion is that a bunch of teams missed a guy who may wind up being a mini-Peyton Manning in Teddy Bridgewater. He's a really, really good pro-set quarterback who has his head on. I predict his teammates will be very happy to play behind him.

[Reg]

You don't complete nearly 70% of your passes playing in the SEC West unless you are an immense talent. .

JaMarcus Russell anyone?

I think it will be interesting to see how much of a system quarterback Manziel is. Much like the early offense outpourings by run and shoot quarterbacks like Andre Ward, A&M runs the spread at breakneck speed focusing on wearing out the defense and finding mismatches. Also in watching the games there were usually about 5 balls at least a game, that Manziel would toss up in the air and Evans would go get...making a play that no other receiver could make, and really shouldn't have made. Could he grow up, sure, that is why I think it was best if he found somewhere to sit for a couple of years, I don't think he will get the chance in Cleveland, I don't really think he gets the chance anywhere, because he is the new media darling...it will be a circus until he starts, it will be talked about on ESPN, before and after every pre season game and every regular season game some reporter will ask about Johnny Football

[Zephyrs]

I will start by saying that I stopped watching football when the Browns moved to Baltimore. My brother said they were leaving and I told him it would never happen. I asked him if the Yankees would be allowed to move to Ann Arbor. Football is Cleveland! Allowing the Browns to leave would be a "black eye" that would cause me to walk away for life and I was a HUGE football fan. Well, here we are several years later and I still do not watch the sport.

As for this guy they call Johnny Football. I am intrigued by him. I still discuss with my brother the finer aspects of the game of football but, I defer much because I just don't follow the game anymore.

I have stuck by my belief that football is more of a team sport than most. I have argued to my brother (and he disagrees) that the greatest Quarterback the game has ever seen would be significantly less great on a bad team. If you draft Namath, Montana, ect, and put them on a bad team, they would flame out like Ryan Leaf or Tim Couch.

Is this guy the answer to the Browns fan's prayers? NO! Is it possible that the Browns can be at the ground floor of putting together the many pieces needed for a winning football team? Yes.

[roncollins]

The beauty of these things is that the final result is all that really matters and that will become clear on its own good time.

Sent from my phone.

[Coqui]

The beauty of these things is that the final result is all that really matters and that will become clear on its own good time.

Sent from my phone.

You're not a sports radio talk show host, are you? LOL.

I think that we can all agree that the Cleveland Browns are 100% more interesting now than they were a weer ago.

[Matt]

I think that we can all agree that the Cleveland Browns are 100% more interesting now than they were a weer ago.

Oh, the Browns are always interesting. And so are train wrecks.

[Lions]

Oh, the Browns are always interesting. And so are train wrecks.

We had a train derail just 3 blocks from my house a few years back. Fascinating. It sure took a long time to get everything cleaned up!

As for quarterbacks, the single most important success factor for any QB is the strength of the offensive line. That said, I think there really IS a big difference between the top guys and the rest, but 90% of that difference is between the ears.

[Borealis]

Oh, the Browns are always interesting. And so are train wrecks.

As for quarterbacks, the single most important success factor for any QB is the strength of the offensive line. That said, I think there really IS a big difference between the top guys and the rest, but 90% of that difference is between the ears.

Of course the right coach makes a difference as well... Case in point, Joe Montana and Bill Walsh.

The Niners were coming off two, 2-14 seasons and a 6-10 season, prior to the first Super Bowl year. That '81 team was by far the weakest of the Niners Super Bowl teams - and they had rookies starting in many crucial spots: Don't forget Dwight Hicks and the Hot Licks!!! (Carlton Williamson, Eric Wright and a guy you may have heard of by the name of Ronnie Lott...). Joe wasn't the fastest. Joe didn't have the strongest arm. Joe wasn't (at first) surrounded by the greatest talent. But what Joe had was Cool under pressure and a coach with a vision.