ESPN NFL Draft Svengali Mel Kiper Jr. is good for two things: hair tips and stirring the pot.
So the only excuse Kiper has to put Johnny Football as his first overall pick in this spring’s NFL Draft is to cause sensible folk like me to foam at the mouth in rage.
My internal debate here was Mr. Football or Mr. Clowney. Thing is, I don't think that's too much different than the scenario going on with Houston right now—just add a few players to the mix. In Manziel, you get a quarterback who in my opinion is ready to play NFL football and make plays, and is preparing with the goal of helping a team right away. In Jadeveon Clowney, you get the most talented player in the draft, a defensive force to pair somewhere along the line with J.J. Watt and create major problems for opposing offenses. Right now I'll stick with the early bet on Manziel, and the idea that coach Bill O'Brien becomes convinced this is his QB of the future.
I couldn't kick my chair hard enough:
Mel builds his argument by saying the Texans are a quarterback away from returning to the post-season. But Dracula completely looks past how Houston is an aging team that in Arian Foster and Andre Johnson has its two primary offensive weapons on the decline. If Sunday's Super Bowl taught us anything, young quarterbacks require tools around them.
Let’s factor McFarve’s and Football’s stats for the 2012 season for the sake of comparing Manziel to a former O’Brien product.
Former Penn State-now-Oakland Raider Matt McGloin's 2012 stats:
Former Texas A&M Johnny Manziel's Heisman season:
They’re not that far off when you factor McGloin’s lack of physical talents and playmakers and Manziel competing against much more talented SEC defenses. But when you account for B.O.B coaching up almost exclusively with pocket passers, picking Manziel is fitting a round peg in a square hole.
Dracula also disregards Bill O’Brien personality as a coach. O’Brien orchestrated Tom Brady’s MVP season and turned Matt McGloin from a footnote in a Penn State media guide into a NFL starter.
Johnny Football is an improviser, but more importantly, he's a showman.
B.O.B. is a football addict. You couldn’t find two different people. He doesn't take to that type of foolishness.