Manziel has been preparing for the transition to the NFL for a year and a half. For example, during the 2013 season Manziel ran the ball 65 fewer times than in his Heisman year. And when he ran, he slid feet first more often and ran out of bounds. Oh sure, he ran into the endzone too, but Manziel is evolving.
In 2013 Johnny Manziel threw 14 more TD's passes than in his Heisman year. His passer rating and YDS/A went up.
Between Johnny's last college game and Johnny's Pro Day, Manziel cleaned up a bunch of his sloppy footwork. That tells me that Manziel is extremely coachable. Johnny scored higher on the Wonderlic than any QB in this draft. Listen to him talk. He doesn't spout off coached cliché's. Johnny shares his mind, and talks fast, because his brain works fast. He's not a parrot.
Manziel has a leader personality. He's a John Wayne, Brett Farve type guy. He forms deep bonds with his teammates. Johnny Manziel will be an All Pro QB in the NFL. Mark my words. Manziel will be drafted before our #13th pick. I've watched every game he's played and I know somebody is going to fall in love with him.
Here's the issue, you have to be able to apply that intelligence on the field. And I question if Manziel can.
He's coming from an offense that consisted of quarter and half field reads with a simplistic progression system and route tree. Manziel also was overly reliant on his legs to allow him to decipher the defense and far too often missed WRs running open...even WRs that were clearly his primary read on the play. To make matters worse, he is a guy that showed the propensity to force things and make bad decisions rather than taking what the defense gave him. His anticipation is highly questionable as is his ability to work through his progressions with patience in the pocket and his ability to control the offense from the LOS. On top of that, I question his ability to make full field reads in the pocket.
Manziel also played behind arguably the best OL in college football the past two years which gave him exceptional blocking and a huge pocket to work with. I was unimpressed with his instincts, eye discipline, and movement in the pocket. He's a guy that prefers to run around and bail out of the pocket rather than maneuvering the pocket, keeping his eyes down the field, and finding throwing lanes.
Additionally, Manziel has poor lower body mechanics and lacks symmetry in his upper body when going through his throwing motion.
I'm a very meticulous person. And there's just so many flaws that I see in his game that I can't get behind him.
I won't write him off either. There's no arguing that Manziel is an unique player. There's no arguing his improvisational skills, deep accuracy, ability to throw on the run, and his competitiveness. But that's not enough for me. Too many warning signs there for me. Too risky.