DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season NFL Draft 2014 Johnny Manziel (Yet Again)

Longest gruden clip i can find so far..

Maybe its just me, but I'm starting to warm up to the JM. One can't discredit his desire to win. I read the breakdown of the top 4 quarterbacks & when it game to describing JM, it was just a different class of excitement. Should we take the flyer is the thousand dollar question. Interesting to see this play out.

Johnny has been very quiet lately for Johnny. I hope they have a camera on him draft day, that will be interesting.

Browns GM Ray Farmer said he will not be at Johnny Manziel's pro day on Thursday. ‪#‎CLE‬

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Browns general manager Ray Farmer revealed at the NFL Annual Meeting on Monday morning that he won't attend quarterback Johnny Manziel's Pro Day Thursday at Texas A&M, and also defended the club's decision not to send key coaches to the Pro Days of other top quarterbacks.

"No, I will not (attend),'' said Farmer said in a sit down with Browns beat writers. "I will tell you that. I will not be going to Johnny Manziel's workout. There's definitely a schedule conflict, and definitely opportunities to talk to all parties that we may or may not be interested in. …A Pro Day of orchestrated throws, I don't know what that tells you. It's a piece of it that people blow up into this great thing. I went to a lot of games and practices this fall. I've seen them throw the ball.''

Farmer stressed that the Browns will get more out of working out their favorite players privately at their schools or near their hometowns. So far, Farmer has been spotted at the Pro Days for Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles, while coach Mike Pettine, offensive Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains have all skipped those sessions.

"We will have our opportunities to have private workouts,'' he said. "Being in charge of that workout is different than being at a Pro Day where it's orchestrated and scripted.''

He stressed that he loves to keep folks speculating on what the Browns are going to do with their No. 4 overall pick in the May draft.

"Right now the systems that we're using are based on keeping everybody in the dark,'' he said. "I like the idea of, the more we tell everybody, the more of a disadvantage we put ourselves at. The fact that people are guessing as to where we're going and where we've been, it's a good thing in the sense that when you're too visible about certain things, it becomes obvious, and obvious is not good for us.''

He cautioned, "I haven't been everywhere that people have reported that I've been. We're focused on creating on our own ideas and systems…No one really knows what we're doing. …There's this notion that we have to take a quarterback, that we have to do certain things. I would say be careful of the 'have-tos.' ''

As for taking a quarterback at No. 4, he said, "I'm not leaning in any direction.''

He also stressed that he'd be fine heading into the season with Brian Hoyer as his starter for 2014.

“I’m comfortable (with Hoyer),'' he said. "You’ve got to identify the guy that you think can do the role that you’re asking him to do. Once you do that, there’s a lot of guys that’ll come into any team this year as rookies and they’ll contribute.

"They’ll contribute in a big way. So here’s a guy that’s had NFL experience. He’s been in NFL camps. He has some tools to move forward with. The notion of experience is one that to me it can get overplayed. You have to identify truly what the young man is going to be asked to do and can he perform in that role. And if he can, don’t be afraid to move forward in that direction.”

Farmer addressed a number of other topics during his 22-minute interview:

• On Alex Mack waiting to sign his transition tender: "Alex is well within his rights to do the things that he thinks are necessary moving forward. We're still committed to making sure he's a long-term Brown and that's really our focus. …I'm very confident (it can happen). It's the continued interaction, the continued support, the continued vibe that we're giving Alex that will inevitably prevail.''

• On trading up or down in the draft: "I don't think it's ever too soon. Those conversations have already begun. It might be interesting. It's something to keep in the back of your mind, so some of those talks have already begun and I don't know if there's any definitives at the moment. ...I look at the draft as currency. A first-round pick, be it early, be it late, is probably worth five years of a good player at a relative number and same thing down the line. If you can package picks to get a better pick or a better player or somebody that you're targeting, those things should always be considered. I do think there's opportunities to move both up and back in the draft.

• On if the Browns are interested in free agent quarterback Mark Sanchez: “We’re interested in every player that can help us. So if the name is Mark Sanchez, you can apply that to Mark Sanchez. If the name is a different name, you can apply it to that to that person as well.”

* On adding quarterback Rex Grossman, who has a history with offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan: “Every player that we look at will fit a need for us. I probably shouldn’t use the word need, but will fit a role. He’ll have a defined way to compete and to play in our offense and our defense. It’s really about driving competition. If we think that guy can come in and compete to be a quality starter, then, yeah, we’ll definitely be interested.”

• On Joe Haden's cryptic tweet Sunday night that "it's a crazy business,” which was apparently in response to a fake tweet that he had been traded to the Eagles: “We have no interest in getting rid of Joe Haden. That’ll make it simple. We have no interest in that at all. …. “We’re excited to try to keep Joe here for longer than today and tomorrow, but extended into the future.”

• On making a play for Matt Schaub: “Yeah, I think that it’s always interesting. Anybody that’s available you’ll discuss. When you get a chance to talk about any player in that regard, you consider it. The fact that he wasn’t on the open market and Houston traded him, those things never really materialized that way.”

• On not making an offer to T.J. Ward: “It’s not a slight on T.J. at all. We recognize his talents. We recognize he’s a good football player, and at the end of the day, there are other good football players. So when you have those conversations, sometimes it works in a way that’s positive for everybody and it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

• On if he'll sign free agent Paul McQuistan and/or defensive end Alex Carrington, who visited last week: “I will remain silent on that for the moment, but we’ll see. We’ll see.”

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ss..._medium=twitter

I like that he's at least out front about stuff like this. The media will turn this into a catastrophe, but I really think you should base draft decisions on private workouts, meetings, and game tape.

If the Browns draft one of these QB's, and he ends up being horrible or at least not starter quality, it won't be because they didn't go to his pro day.

The media is really stretching it, trying to keep irrelevant stories relevant.

LOL this guy is possibly the most tight lipped guy in his role I think I've ever seen.

he tells you stuff but really tells you nothing Cracks me up.

j/c...

I just read the article about Manziel being a Big Bust...it was freaking Hoge...who has dipped pretty much out of sight and I would say DJ knows more about QBs than Hoge. I think he's looking to get his name in the lights again. doing one of these. so if he calls it he will gain notoriety like Mayock did with his Cutler claim.

Also another note as I read page one by mistake...

Dropping back one more yard can give the same effect of about 6 inches in height. So them who have a kid who is a short QB...like my kid. teach them how to drop back quick n deep. Montana has a good training video actually Walsh's video Montana demonstrating.

DA I remember his 3 step drop was a pitter patter of his giant feet and he didn't get back much at all. He had just as many batted down passes as a Drew Brees if not more.

Also we will be running that stretch zone so that we will probably have a moving pocket a lot and of course that famous naked reverse.

jmho

I went to the draft in 2010 and Merrill Hoge was having a Q&A before Day 2 started. He said when a Jaguars (who had just drafted Tyson Alualu at #10) fan asked who he thought the biggest reach of the 1st round was. Hoge said it was Tim Tebow.

I was thinking the same thing. But when he is standing under it it looks like his head is pretty far below it.

Thanks for the article.

I like reading Farmer's responses to different questions. It's like he is really, really trying to be "tight lipped," but his answers to other questions belie his true intent.

I hope you are wrong, but that is why I have always absolutely despised having the GM having the final say of the roster.

Johnny Manziel is the perfect QB to take at 4.

He's either going to succeed fantastically or fail fantastically. Highest ceiling. Lowest floor for a QB in the first three rounds.

I take him without question due to the value of a franchise changing guy at QB.

And he has the swagger and moxie to flip the script.

Take him and run.

Let it unfold.

Either we end up with a guy who can change our destiny or a failure.

Lets pick a guy next year then. There's quite a few top end guys.

I might flip our second first to next year. Or our second for a 2015 first. Just for ammo for the next year crop as a hedge.

Ok.

That's it.

I'm not really back. Just thought I'd add that to the conversation. Go Browns!

Welcome back...............and I mean that, sincerely.

Thanks.

Welcome back Heldawg.

I agree that we should be going after a QB, every year if necessary, until we find the right guy.

If we don't have a franchise guy, then we need one. That said, we don't need to invest a top pick in every draft ...... but I would take a 1st round guy, backed up by a 3rd rounder the next year, then a 4th ..... and so on, until we find the right guy. We really have to get the QB spot right if we want to win.

It looked every bit of regulation. We know manziel is just under 6 feet tall and that rin isn't 2 feet above his head. It looks every bit of 4 feet.

Brees had that great dunk in the game vs the Steelers last year.

Hoge said it was Tim Tebow.

That was both TRUE and OBVIOUS...I don't think you had to be a QB Guru to get that one right

jmho

The thing about Manziel.. and I have said it before... I don't want him.. but I do. He could either totally change football, or become the worst draft choice ever.

The HC would have to develop an offence around him.. He is very much a boom and bust player.

I hate college football.. its boring... bubble after bubble... screen after screen. Yet Manziel made me want to watch it. He is a hug risk at 4... but with our history.. do we take it. Glad I am not Farmer or Pettine

I agree w/most of that, other than hating college football.

part of me LOVES johnny football. he is a brand that we haven't had in cleveland since bernie retired. he does things his way and he doesn't care who he pisses off along the way.

that being said, his ceiling is one of the highest, but his floor could be a scary thing to watch un-ravel.

*gulp*

If your in to watching athletes perform amazingly, then it's hard not to like Manziel.. as a pure athlete, he's pretty much amazing.

Still not sure how it translates to the Pros...

Who is a sure-fire impact guy?

Yeah, I don't think any player is ever sure-fire. Joe Thomas was close. Adrian Peterson was close. There are others, but I can't come up w/any right now.

What I'm saying is that I don't think we should pass on a QB because they aren't sure-fire. There probably is not a player in this draft who is sure-fire. I actually think Teddy would be one of the safer picks.

I would say Robinson and Mathews are sure fire 10 years and probowls in their future. Now the problem is you have Joe and are u willing to give up a #4 overall in a deep class to add a RT. How many years does Joe have left? he slipped a bit last year, is this an anomaly or a trend?