While it's true Manziel scrambles a good deal, it's incorrect to state that he "rarely plays from the pocket." People have parroted this back and forth so many times, and when you combine it with just watching "highlight reels" that show off his escapability and scrambling ability that turns nothing into something, it's becoming gospel and somehow just assumed he does this every snap. It's also being assumed that he just didn't need to scramble, when in a lot of cases, it was a necessity due to natural pressure.80 PurplePride 84 wrote:He rarely plays from the pocket and takes off if his first read isn't there, sometimes even before.
FWIW, he improved his pocket presence by quite a bit from his freshman to sophomore years. I'm not the only one that thinks so.
http://nfldraftgeek.com/johnnymanziel_s ... eport.htmlStrength: Excellent pocket presence; knows when to stand in and when to bail
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... uarterbackLooking at Manziel operate against Duke, I believe he has grown immensely as a pocket passer. He comfortably makes pinpoint throws from the pocket, exhibiting quiet feet and solid mechanics.
http://www.allprofootballsource.com/can ... excel-nfl/And finally let’s talk about his pocket presence. Manziel gets the reputation of not having pocket presence, because he likes to leave the pocket at times with his scrambling nature. However, his pocket presence has improved tremendously from his redshirt freshmen season. He has shown flashes of the ability to climb the pocket, instead of leaving every time he senses the pass rush and manages outside and inside pressure relatively well. He’s very slippery in the pocket and dies hard if you want to sack him there.
Of course, there are also reports that do say his pocket presence needs work, and I do think that's an accurate statement. But he works from the pocket (well) more than people give him credit for. Again, to say he rarely works from the pocket is incorrect.
Agreed. And while he's certainly done that in college (all QBs do), it's been less than many believe due to it being harped on all the time. As much as this gets said you'd think that all the guy does is take the snap, run around and play "500." Frankly, I like QBs that take some risks as opposed to Ponder, who at times appears afraid to pull the trigger for risk of making a mistake. But that's just me. If Manziel throws 25 INTs to 15 TDs, I'll clearly be unhappy.Running around in the backfield for 10 seconds and throwing the ball up isn't gonna fly in the NFL.
While the speed of the NFL is different than college, I don't agree that he'll necessarily get caught significantly more often. He escaped some of the fastest linebackers and defensive linemen in college football. He's made many, many talented defenders look absolutely silly. If you look at a guy like Roethlisberger...he was similarly elusive in college and that translated over. It's certainly possible he gets sacked a lot more often, but I don't think that's a certainty, especially if you give him a solid offensive line in front of him so he may not be forced to scramble in the first place.The speed in the NFL is a lot different then in college, he'll be caught more often than not for sacks and those passes he just throws up will be intercepted or broken up more often than completed.
I'm confused...Manziel went 30/38 (79%), 382 yards (10.1 YPA), 4 TDs, 0 INTs and 11 rushing attempts for 73 yards and another score. That game?Go back and watch the Chick Fil A Bowl and look how he got hit by Duke. It will be like that weekly in the NFL and be done by superior athletes than what Duke has. No one is gonna last getting hit like that.
I think there are plenty of reasons to draft him at #8. But I agree it'd be a gamble.Add all this in to the fact that Turner's system calls for more of a pure pocket passer and there is absolutely no reason to draft him at #8.