Thursday, May 22, 2014


Way too early to tell


Johnny Manziel sure is a news magnet.

No matter what he does, the rookie Browns quarterback is the subject of a story. Good, bad or otherwise.

The most ridiculous notion thus far is that Manziel should know his place on the team. He’s a newbie and thus should be treated like one.

He knows that. He doesn’t have to be told he should “act like a backup” and not like he’s king of the block. Give the guy a little credit. He’s not that ignorant where he actually believes he can walk right in and take over. He doesn’t need to be humbled.

After the first OTA session the other day, Browns General Manager Ray Farmer went on radio and declared Brian Hoyer was a better quarterback right now by a substantial margin.

Of course he is. What a ridiculous thing to say considering Manziel is taking baby steps in his transition to the professional game. He is merely dipping his toes in new waters.

The GM doesn’t need to go on radio and announce something like that to the world.  Some opinions are better off being left unsaid. Especially when the most rabid fan base in the National Football League is listening and gloms onto every word.

Hoyer is a seasoned veteran by comparison. He’s been down this road a few times. At this juncture, it stands to reason he is the much better quarterback. It’s not even close. And if the season started this Sunday, he would be under center.

But this is the latter part of May and the season does not begin for another 15 weeks.

It appears as though the Browns are taking something relatively benign right now and making a big deal of it. There is time for that later in training camp and the ramp-up to the regular season with four exhibition games.

It’s time to settle down and let this whole thing play out. Cool it with the hyperbole. By the time training camp begins in late July, Manziel will be that much wiser and the gap between him and Hoyer will narrow. It’s inevitable.

Hoyer is much closer to his ceiling now than Manziel. What will be interesting to watch is how quickly (or slowly) Manziel handles his learning curve in his acclimation to professional football.

If nothing else, that will be one of the determining factors as he takes Farmer’s broadsides and uses them as motivation in his efforts to unseat Hoyer.

It should prove to be an interesting battle and bodes well for the future at the position.

10 comments:

  1. announce |əˈnouns|
    verb [ reporting verb ]
    make a public and typically formal declaration about a fact, occurrence, or intention

    answer |ˈansər|
    noun
    a thing said, written, or done to deal with or as a reaction to a question

    The rest of your article is basically a reiteration of the remainder of Farmer's answer, therefore your article is ridiculous as well?

    Are you just looking for nits to pick? I think you're better than this.

    Some advice from a quote I recently read somewhere:
    "It’s time to settle down and let this whole thing play out. Cool it with the hyperbole."

    I do think Farmer has been WAY to visible since the draft, though.

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  2. At least we can agree on that. I think the Browns are mishandling this from a PR standpoint. They need someone who has dealt with this kind of nonsense to come in and slow them down. Otherwise, this could get out of hand by the time training camp starts.

    Johnny M is a big boy. He's mature and savvy beyond his years. He has dealt with the media on a far grander scale than this and handled it well.

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    1. Just not true! If he was "mature and savvy" and dealt well with the media, he wouldn't have been passed over 21 times in the draft. Obviously a lot of teams had the same fears some of us do. How do you explain his reputation as college football's social bad-boy? First thing he did walking across the stage at the draft was make the "big bucks" sign with his fingers. Total lack of class!

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  3. Hate him now. He will change your mind eventually.

    And your rationale for teams that passed on him makes no sense. He was passed over because he did not fit the profile from a football standpoint; i.e. he was too short.

    You'll find out soon enough how mature and savvy he is with the media.

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    1. Short has nothing to do with it. How about the fact that nobody else in the first 21 picks wanted to play sandlot football? However, be that as it may, if I were you I wouldn't run out and order a Manziel "FatHread" for your wall just quite yet!

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    2. Short had everything to do with it. And don't forget a vast majority of those teams were not looking for a quarterback.

      I don't do Fatheads, whatever that is.

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    3. FYI: http://www.fathead.com/?cm_mmc=MSN-_-B_Fathead_ONLY_E-_-Brand-_-fathead&iq_id=47038605-VQ16-c

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    4. Now that I know what that is, I repeat: I don't do fatheads. Way too juvenile.

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  4. Juvenile??? So is Manziel! Must be one hell of a training camp out there in Las Vegas. Sure glad his main focus is on football! What a joke/wasted pick.

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  5. Sometimes, thoughts are better left unsaid. Consider this one of those times.

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