Johnny Manziel a Top Three QB on Teams’ Boards for 2014 NFL Draft
Nov 9, 2013; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A
Tony Pauline, a very well-respected NFL Draft insider recently reported that the top three quarterbacks on teams’ boards for the 2014 NFL Draft–and should come at no surprise–are Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.
There are still a few out there who want to refuse the fact that Manziel will be a first round quarterback, but barring some injury or major off-field incident, it’s probably going to happen. Here’s what Pauline had to say:
How do teams rank the signal callers? The top three on boards are Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, Teddy Bridewater of Louisville and TAMU’s Johnny Manziel, no surprise there.
Manziel is having another huge season just one year after being the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. He’s not 6’4″ 230 pounds but even at his smaller size, Manziel has proven more than capable of making plays in the pocket, out of the pocket, and pulling plays/rabbits out of a hat as needed.
The guy has been under a ton of scrutiny for some of his off-field antics, and there was a lot of negative hype surrounding Johnny Football entering the 2013 season, but he’s put forth a ton of work this offseason obviously and has drastically improved his game from the pocket. He has thrown more interceptions this year than he did last year, but I think most scouts can see that rare playmaking ability that Manziel has, and if he can show more maturity off the field than has been put in the spotlight, I think some team is going to have a very good player on their hands.
If Manziel wants to continue messing around with partying and risking getting suspended for whatever reason it may be, his career in the NFL will be short and he’ll be moving from city to city. I hope that’s not the case, because Manziel will be a fantastic addition to the already very entertaining NFL.
Either way, this report from Pauline is further proof that Manziel is gaining steam as a first round pick heading down the stretch, and he has a chance to boost that stock even further with a few games remaining.