When the Cleveland Browns traded up to select Johnny Manziel with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, there were many people who believed that Manziel was going to find his way to the field sooner than later. It sounds like if Cleveland general manager Ray Farmer has anything to do with it, Manziel won’t be seeing the field anytime soon. Farmer said earlier this week that Manziel is behind Brian Hoyer by “a substantial margin”. This indicates one of two things and that is either Farmer wasn’t truly on board with taking Manziel or that this is a massive smokescreen moving forward because of some things Farmer has said.
Hoyer has shown that he can be a very capable starting NFL quarterback and if he didn’t tear his ACL last season, it is very possible that the Browns don’t take Manziel at all because they would have had their quarterback of the future. However, the ACL tear did happen and Manziel is now on the Cleveland roster. There are going to be growing pains for Manziel and Farmer has stressed that he likes experience which gives the advantage to Hoyer right off the bat.
If that is truly the case, Hoyer will be starting in Pittsburgh on Sept. 7 when the regular season begins. However, there has to be some thought that the team is discounting Manziel’s abilities and making it sound like he isn’t doing well to take some pressure off Manziel right now. Manziel showed at Texas A&M what he can do and many teams would throw him right into the fire this season. He is a special talent and Farmer has stated that Manziel’s playing style will have to be changed but that would be the wrong thing to do probably. Farmer though also said that he thinks Manziel can help the Browns win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpvlEttkE4s
That sounds like a double standard. Is Farmer blowing smoke here or are the Browns going to go with Hoyer to start the 2014 season? There is still two months until training camp begins so that question will have to wait to be answered until later in the preseason. It sounds like not everyone in Cleveland was on board with the whole Manziel draft pick decision. That could definitely hurt him as his career starts but it’s only a matter of time until the Browns decide if Manziel holds a clipboard or a snapped football when the 2014 season gets underway.
