Johnny Manziel
 

If you like Johnny Football you'll like this article. This will be his year . Another Heisman will make him a top 5 pick. I hope Alex Smith turns to garbage this year and we go 0-16. We pick up Manziel and the Chiefs will be so much fun to watch.


Johnny Pro FootballOriginally Published: May 2, 2013By Skip Bayless |


Very large hands are just two of the reasons Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel is such a dynamic and promising NFL QB prospect.

I spent the last month trying to talk myself into Geno Smith, Matt Barkley, EJ Manuel and any of the other can't-miss quarterbacks in this draft crop. I finally agreed with Hall of Fame QB and Denver executive vice president John Elway, who said he was glad he didn't need a quarterback this year.

Next year will be very different.

Next year, if Johnny Manziel enters the draft after three years at Texas A&M, as he almost certainly will, some lucky team picking at or near the top will get the rookie equivalent of Robert Griffin III.

Yes, I'm already ready to go out on this limb faster than Johnny Football gets to end zones: He'll be a National Football League STAR. Everything about this kid is RARE. We're talking Michael Vick meets Doug Flutie meets Fran Tarkenton meets Brett Favre meets Drew Brees -- with a sometimes dangerous dose of Broadway Joe Namath thrown in off the field.This kid will lead the league in total yards and splash.

Crazy talk? I've been pretty good at evaluating quarterbacks over the years -- more on that in a moment. I'm just listening to my eyes.

My TV screen did not lie when Manziel took apart Nick Saban's Alabama defense in Tuscaloosa or when he embarrassed my Oklahoma Sooners in the Cotton Bowl. Think about this: In America's toughest conference, the SEC, 19-year-old first-year starter Manziel shattered Cam Newton's single-season total offense record IN TWO FEWER GAMES, then merely became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.


I'll also be the first to predict that, before next year's draft, some bad team picking high -- some think-inside-the-box outfit -- will try talking itself OUT of Manziel. Too short. Too uncoachable. Too much of Bad Brett Favre, a gamblin' scrambler. Too Flutie and not enough mighty-armed Elway.

For very different reasons, Johnny Football will become the most polarizing draftee since another college legend, Tim Tebow, went 25th in the first round to Denver (before Elway took over).

Over the phone from Lubbock, new Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury couldn't resist gigging me. Last year, Kingsbury served as Manziel's coordinator at Texas A&M. Kingsbury dryly said: "Skip, Johnny's better than Tebow."

I said



Without hesitation,: "I agree. Way better."

I've been known as Tebow's biggest (and sometimes only) media supporter. Yet all I said before Tebow's draft was that I would take him late in the first round because he can win games as a starting quarterback in the NFL. Did he ever, when given the opportunity in his second season in Denver.

Manziel can be THE reason an NFL team wins Super Bowls. He is wildly athletic -- as fast as he is quick -- with a lightning release and a deadly accurate arm capable of picking you apart or burning you deep.

I could almost hear Kingsbury's eyes roll when I asked about Manziel's doubters. As Texas Tech's QB, Kingsbury set 17 NCAA passing records before he was drafted in the sixth round by New England and bounced around three other NFL teams. "I've seen my share of arms," he said. "I have never seen anything like this."

Kingsbury continued in a "trust me" tone.
Kingsbury continued: "He just has that aura when he walks on the field. He just knows he's the best player, even at Alabama. … He's just so football instinctive that he can extend plays and keep you guessing then hit you with a 50-yard strike or outrun you 80 to the end zone. ... He made three throws late at Alabama that were as good as I've seen."

Including the game-breaker, a beautifully arced corner route over Dee Milliner, the cornerback the Jets took ninth overall to replace Darrelle Revis. "Most fearless player I've ever been around," Kingsbury said.

I mentioned that when Manziel bolts into secondaries he often makes defenders miss as if he's a punt returner. Kingsbury stunned me by comparing Manziel with the player I thought was the best in this draft, Tavon Austin, who went eighth to St. Louis. "Lot of similarities to the 300 yards Tavon Austin had against Oklahoma," Kingsbury said of Austin's 344 yards on 21 carries. Manziel went for 229 yards on 17 carries and added 287 yards passing for a Cotton Bowl record 516 total yards.And remember, Manziel isn't befuddling college defenses with a read-option scheme.

Kingsbury said A&M ran no more than 10 option plays all season.

Do I think Manziel is as fast as a young Vick? Not quite, but take it from Heisman winner Flutie, who spent time around Manziel at the Heisman ceremony and has studied his game as an NBC analyst: "Johnny can split defensive backs the way Vick did. Just that one cut between two guys and he's gone. ... Johnny has my quickness, but he's much faster than I was downfield. ... But Johnny's like Fran Tarkenton was. He understands the advantage of scrambling behind the line to restart the play. ... He throws the deep ball very well."

Can he stay healthy in the NFL? "I think Johnny won't get as banged up [as other running QBs]," Flutie said. "Robert [Griffin III] is more long and lanky. Johnny's just so elusive, and at his size, he'll be smart enough to get down."

Will Manziel be coachable? "We put a ton on our quarterbacks, and by the sixth or seventh game, he was really good, checking us into the right plays," Kingsbury said. "But a couple of times against Arkansas [453 yards passing and three touchdowns and 104 yards running and another TD] he came off after scoring a touchdown and said, 'My bad' [because he had broken the play]. I just shrugged and high-fived him and said, 'It's all good.'"

Can Manziel be an NFL star? Flutie, who was a spectacular scrambler and made a Pro Bowl in 1998, said: "Absolutely. Of course, I'm for the little guys. Breezy [Brees] isn't quite 6 feet."

Flutie's concern: "A kid with his athleticism can get lazy."

Yes, a 20-year-old playing in the SEC could feel like he doesn't have much left to prove. He could get careless, as Manziel sometimes has off the field. That's why it's too bad NFL rules prevented Manziel from being in last week's draft. He is made far more for pro than college football.


Flutie is in a unique position to evaluate Manziel's pro potential. He hasn't exactly comported himself the way a Heisman winner is expected to. "You start hoping he'd clean it up a little," Flutie said.

Manziel is taking courses online because, he says, he's often mobbed on campus. Manziel has played fast and loose on Twitter, posting pictures of his winnings at a casino and partying with his buddies or with his model girlfriend. In interviews, Manziel handles himself like a 30-year-old. In truth, said Kingsbury, "He's just a kid trying to figure all this out."

The most troubling incident happened before Johnny Football became nationally famous. On June 29, in the wee hours, Manziel and a close friend were leaving a College Station bar when the friend called a passing black man a racial slur, according to a police officer's written statement and reported by Sports Illustrated. The black man came after Manziel's friend. Manziel intervened and tried to calm the man down by saying his friend hadn't meant what he said. The man swung at Manziel, who hit back. Manziel was arrested and found to have two fake IDs. The officer said Manziel appeared to be so intoxicated he couldn't answer questions.

If NFL teams shy away from Manziel because of any issue raised by this incident, that will be understandable. But any team that passes on him based strictly on football evaluation will make a monumental mistake.

On "First Take" over the years, I've predicted before the draft that RG III will prove to be better than Luck, that Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder will always frustrate their fans, that Sam Bradford was being way overdrafted and overpaid, that I wasn't sold on Mark Sanchez but that Josh Freeman was a steal at 17th overall (in 2009), that JaMarcus Russell would be a huge mistake at No. 1 overall (in 2007) and Brady Quinn (also 2007) was just a backup and that Vince Young and Jay Cutler would be much better than Matt Leinart.

I missed on Russell Wilson, but apparently Seattle, and the other 31 NFL teams, weren't quite sure, either; he wasn't taken until the 75th overall pick, in the third round. But Wilson's stunning success, at about 5-11 and 206 pounds, certainly helped blaze the trail for Manziel.

Still, as Kingsbury and Flutie stressed, the team that drafts Manziel must completely buy into what he does. Young was offensive rookie of the year, made two Pro Bowls and went 31-19 as a starter in spite of Jeff Fisher, who wasn't completely on board with drafting him third overall.

"What Mike Shanahan did for RG III was masterful," Kingsbury said. "You have to build an offense around Johnny. You can't force a square peg in a round hole."

Then again, maybe it won't matter what offense a team tries to make Manziel run.

Before we hung up, Kingsbury repeated: "Never seen anything like this."

What impresses me most about Manziel is his footwork. When you think about a QB with great footwork you think about Peyton Manning. Manning has nothing on Manziel. His feet are constantly moving . He floats like a ballerina and knows how and when to plant and strike. It's a thing of true beauty.

What about his height...what's he's true height?

6'1" and still growing. Freshman last year. Taller than Brees. Wears a size 15 shoe and his hands are so big they swallow the football.

I predict a major step back for both TAM and Manziel this year.

If it's because Joekel is gone I think you're wrong.

Tebow

He's a midget with an incredibly weak arm. He is not an NFL QB.

Pansy for manziel!

Can he throw a one yard dump off to DMC or to to DMC's replacement?

No way. I've met him a couple of tines and he is no taller than 5' 11' . I am as tall as him and I'm 5' 11". No way in hell he is 6' 1". Id bet everything I own on that and would clean up!

Guys, Tim Tebow is the next great breed of QB. He's just such an athlete. He's a leader, and he's got confidence out the wazoo. The kid can play!

He is a winner. And not teh ghey.

The Chiefs need winners! Cut the whole team! Gut it out! Start over again, only this time build with winners!

This. He just looks short for a qb but with advances of sports medicine and growth hormone injections who knows he might shoot up an inch or so as long as his long bone growth plates havent fused.

I was once a doubter too. I wanted Jameil Showers (on his way to UTEP) to start. It's true, he doesn't have the strongest arm. But the more you watch him, the more you understand that he will be just fine at any level. He can't make miracle throws off of his back foot, but when he steps into a throw or even making a throw on the run, he has fine arm strength. He has a good release, his ball placement skills are elite, great footwork, intagibles, etc. There are reports that he gained an inch in height and is at 205, but not sure I buy it.

If you think the hype will get to his head, I have my doubts. People said the same thing before the OU game. He looked his confident and competitive self in the Spring game. Even if he is a bit of a partying douche, he's saying all the right things publicly and I believe he understands the business.

As for the prediction that Manziel will take a step back, I can't see how. The O-line will be just as good, and the Running backs get better with Brandon Williams becoming eligible and Trey Williams having a year under his belt. They lose Swope but he still has his favorite target in Mike Evans. They have adequate guys returning in Hicks, Kennedy, LeKendrick Williams and Derel Walker. They also have some real potential guys in Ed Pope, Jaquay Williams, Ricky-Seals Jones, Quiv Gonzalez, Kyrion Parker, Sebastian Larue and Cam Clear. Just take a look at those guys' offer lists to understand their potential.

The defense is a big question mark, no doubt. I can see them losing a couple because of the D. They will be young. We'll see.

Hog Farmer trolling?

I think he hit the boar sauce for breakfast.

I'm convinced now that some team will reach and overdraft him. I mean, even Tebow was a 1st rounder.

I dont know much about this johnny foosball but i had to stop reading because they said hes the qb that will lead his team to superbowls. That means hes not kc bound.

Yeah another bottom five season would be awesome.

Who's the D-linemen in that draft class?

Players with what is seen as a high level of athletic talent, not all of which has been tapped, are always overdrafted. It's like the girl who settles for a dysfunctional guy thinking she can change him. "If he could just improve his footwork" "If he could just learn to read defenses" "if we could just fix his throwing motion".

Maybe it's just me, but can anyone remember someone who had problems like these that suddenly changed in the pros?

Some players like Matt Ryan seem to grow naturally, becoming stronger at their strengths and wiser through experience. But players like Cam Newton don't suddenly become mature, Tebow has yet to improve his accuracy, Cassel never developed pocket presence, accuracy, or anything else...

I think we as fans believe QBs can change but they don't change very much. It seems like they are what they are an the best you can get is an experienced version of what they are today.

Maybe it's just me.

Wasn't (name your favorite great QB) basically what he was when he was drafted, only younger?

Talent and intangibles are sometimes overlooked but measurables never are. Guys with measurables and question marks elsewhere get overdrafted. The guys who are the opposite don't.

Johnny football is nothing without joekel



lol

Hoping to go 0-16 to get anyone is not my idea of building a consistently winning franchise.

^

Well then let me rephrase. I hope we go 18-0, win the superbowl and draft Johnny Manziel


Lots of negativity in this thread which I expected. That's OK. It is what it is.

And Johnny Manziel is the only freshman to ever win the Heisman.

The Tebow talk doesn't make sense to me. Tebow has a stronger arm, but Manziel is a more accurate, instinctive passer. His best attribute is his ability to throw downfield with accuracy on the run. His work against Alabama is ****ing impressive.

I think he's going to be a turnover machine in the NFL, though. He'll have to mature as a passer.

Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel don't even compare ! I hate it when people try to even bring Tebow into the equation. Tebow sucks.

Manziel is a bundle of sticks. Too short, too weak, too much of a bitch... Bust.

But Tim Tebow was good in College... Wasn't he..? Hmmmmm.... NFL and NCAA are two differet universes bro. Manziel is a college qb, nothing more... Just like Pat White, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Chris Leak, and that kid from Oregon.

:LOL:

If we go 0-16 we will just draft another OL.


Its safe after all.

Manziel will not go as high in the draft as many think. In the end he will be lucky to be a 1st round pick.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo...635/party4.jpg

:LOL:

Archie Griffen is the only player to win two Heisman's, at RB even.

How'd his NFL career go?

Winning the Heisman is the last thing anyone should look at to gauge the future success of a college QB. Here's a list of Heisman winning QBs since 1990:

Ty Detmer, Gino Torretta, Charlie Ward, Danny Wuerffell, Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Carson Palmer, Jason White, Matt Leinert, Troy Smith, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, RGIII, and Johnny Manziel.

That's a huge collection of suckage, with only RGIII looking like a sure elite QB.

This is the post I was going to make. Hell, the verdict is still out on whether RGIII can stay healthy or not. But yeah, the rest are horrible.

Cam Newton had a sophomore slump and will be back really good next year, Carson had a solid career but didn't win anything, I completely agree with you... You cannot judge Heisman winning QB's to NFL. Considering Manziel is brain-dead off the field.

The place cracks me up. Everybody wants to compare him with unsuccessful players. You know what, there are also players that were good in college and also good in the NFL.

I haven't seen enough of Manziel to have any opinion about his future as an NFL player.

I love ya, HF, but throwing out a Heisman as though it's some sort of indicator of NFL potential is a really stupid play.

Yeah but.... He's literally an idiot.

You're the one that threw his Heisman out there as a qualification for his future NFL success. Someone then posted up the QB Heisman winners for the last 20 years to show that it wasn't a positive correlation.

QBs that are good in college and the NFL almost always have an elite skill set that translates well to the pro game. Manziel is small, doesn't have elite arm strength, and all evidence points to him not having the mental makeup it takes to prepare for the NFL game.

No way. Next year it's time to take the safe DL stud, like Glen Dorsey.

Geno Torreta, Eric Crouch and Jason White approve this thread!
Posted via Mobile Device

Nah, I think Cam is what he is and he is his own worst enemy because he like Geno thinks he has arrived and will continue to be very inconsistent due to his lack of work ethic in the film and academic part of the game that Brady,Manning,Brees,RGIII, etc...... all have. Geno will be the uglier version of Cam in the future. Count on it !:thumb:

Or the big, physical WR. KC has selected two of those recently in the first round.

In all seriousness, on Manziel... if he carves up the SEC, again, this year, I will start to believe he might make it in the NFL.

There's a big difference between a guy like Tebow, who dominated with physical ability, running ability and will, and a guy like Manziel, who dominated with escapability, play extension, and hurt teams just as much with his arm as his legs.

The "Heisman" is just a reminder it's college football and not to get to excited for obvious reasons.

He's the ONLY FRESHMAN to ever win the Heisman Bitches ! That means he's awesome !


Seriously I really enjoy watching him play not like any other college player ever. I don't even like college football, but he's ****ing fun to watch. I just hope he does equally well this year and translates his game successfully to the NFL.

gotta go back to work . I'll check in with you whiny bitches later.

The upper echelon of the SEC "will be ready this year" for Johnny I assure you.

I think Manziel winning the Heisman this year is more of an indication of the true suckatude of this years QB class than anything. A MLB and a TE playing QB were the other finalists for ****s sake.

He is a 6ft Doug Flutie(with more quickness) with less of an arm but I get your point about being totally entertained watching him play.

Alabama and Nick Saban hosted Manziel in the 11th game of the season. I don't think there were many secrets left at that point.

I'm sure defenses will focus on stopping him, but everybody was doing that by midseason last year, too. With little success.

He's such a fluke. He'll be a terrible pro.

A whole lot of this.

Even though Geno was the awesome. LMAO

This would be a great post if we were talking about AJ McCarron winning the Heisman. Miami, Florida State, OU, USC, tOSU, Florida are all traditional powers. QB is an important position. Combine the two and you get a lot of Heisman bias for underwhelming talents. The exceptions are Detmer, Newton, and RGIII. A&M is A&M... Not any of those schools listed.

I only saw him play a couple times, but I was very impressed with his accuracy. That's the number one thing I look for in a QB. That he can move is a bonus.

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showt...el#post9103792

Apparently you changed your mind somewhere in the 2.5 games he played against Sam Houston, Missouri, and OU. Impressive flip-flop

This is high quality trolling from our resident hog jerker.

Two guys walk into a KFC:

Tebow thought he ate the bones.

Manziel thought he had to up his game and tried to...

What good players does he actually compare to?
Posted via Mobile Device

A more talented Jeff Garcia?

Pretty much this. Manziel has an ok arm, but its nothing special. His escapability will be slowed down in the pros because every player is fast. He's also built kinda skinny.

So he's not going to be good enough?

Sums my opinion up too. Thanks
Posted via Mobile Device

Well you can't say Steve Young or Drew Brees without people throwing a fit. Garcia actually had a really impressive run for three or four years. Somewhere between Garcia and Young/Brees is a damn good QB

and Manziel isn't between that so....

You're totally right. He's Drew Tate. You continue to have tremendous input

Not sure why you brought up Drew Tate. He is completely irrelevant to anything in this thread. So what wonderful input you have. ****ing idiot.

Because you're a dumbshit Iowa fan

One hit wonder.

It's a great post regardless. A&M plays in the SEC and with the exposure that conference gets, any QB from that conference who is putting up impressive stats and their team is winning is going to get Heisman bias. Comparing A&M to Baylor and BYU is epically stupid and Newton is a horrible comparison.

So, is there where the Sanchez turned to Geno lovers are turning to next?

Stoops' 00's Sooners
Meyer's Gators
Bowden's 90s Seminoles
Spurier's Gators
Erickson's Hurricanes
Carroll's Trojans
Solich's Huskers
Tressel's Buckeyes

Sumlin's Aggies? Lol

Personally I think who would be the best fit for this roster QB wise would be AJ McCarron. Sure Bridgewater and Boyd are the cream of this QB class but right now I have McCarron, Murray and Fales for sure above Manziel when it comes to NFL QB prospects. With that said I doubt we draft a QB early next season unless Smith is horrid and Bray hasn't shown development.

AJ McCarron is a god damn 4th round pick.

McCarron will be a much better NFL QB than Manziel!

Brett Hundley?

Goddamn. Mccaron? Really?