Month: January 2014 (Page 4 of 4)

Texans owner Bob McNair said Houston is willing to trade No. 1 overall pick so it can land another QB and a defensive player as well.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2014

And so it begins.

The mad rush to let the world know you’re open for business.

Rams GM Les Snead (who for some reason is still rocking a ‘Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic’ look, even though it’s not 1997) was the first to move:

“There are going to be some teams that want to pick a quarterback, and that could increase the value of our pick… I have told people I’m not sure I know how to draft without multiple first-round picks, so I’m always going to be interested when it comes to making sure I can continue to do that.”

Last time he had the #2 pick he turned it into a treasure trove — although I’d argue it’s debatable whether the Rams are better off without Robert Griffin III.

Clearly he’s hoping history will repeat itself. I doubt there was a happier man in America when Johnny Manziel led that comeback against Duke earlier in the week.

The Rams are in a very strong position, even if they won’t quite match the RGIII. The three teams sitting behind them in the draft — Jacksonville, Cleveland and Oakland — all desperately need quarterbacks.

If the Texans don’t select Jadeveon Clowney, they could also field calls from Atlanta — who badly need a pass rush.

Bob McNair and the Texans will be envious of this position. I suspect some potential trade partners will wait to see what they do before reacting.

They don’t have an Andrew Luck sitting there — or an RGIII for that matter. They’d almost certainly prefer to move down and get more bang for their buck.

Manziel and Clowney will be two guys that make a trade possible, as long as they let it be know they’re willing to take either at #1 but not at all costs.

I suspect one or two teams (maybe more) are going to fall head over heels for Johnny M. Ditto for Clowney.

I’m not sure anyone’s going to feel that way about Teddy Bridgewater or Blake Bortles.

Some teams won’t have any interest in Johnny. But I’m willing to bet there’ll be a handful who talk themselves into needing him. Big time.

I can see Cleveland taking that stance.

Maybe Minnesota, too.

Clowney is a generational physical talent. He’ll go in the top 5. There’ll be no shortage of takers. But will anyone want him badly enough to go get the top pick?

I’ve mocked Clowney to Houston at every opportunity so far. But quarterback is their biggest need. They’ve appointed an offensive minded coach and he’ll want his own guy to build around.

Jay Cutler — the only obvious veteran out there worthy of a big trade — has now signed a mega-extension with Chicago.

Clowney is a nice fall back option if they can’t commit to Bridgewater, Manziel or Bortles. He’d be a terror alongside J.J. Watt.

But you have to wonder if they’ll feel obliged to take a quarterback, even if it is a little forced. There are two main reasons they slumped to 2-14 last year — bad offensive play calling and poor quarterback performance.

They’ll hope part one was addressed with their new coaching hire. Part two is the quarterback.

Waiting until #33 is an option, but A.J. McCarron’s performance against Oklahoma last night highlighted the issues within his game. His decision not to attend the Senior Bowl is also a head scratcher.

Nobody should expect Houston to draft another Carr brother.

If they do end up drafting a QB with the top pick, in a way it still helps St. Louis.

Take one of those signal callers off the board and the group thins. Now you’ve got three or four teams knowing they better move up or risk missing out on what is developing into a ‘power three’ of Bridgewater, Manziel and Bortles.

Cleveland, with two first round picks, might get a twitchy trigger finger. Minnesota — with GM Rick Spielman seemingly on a short leash — might feel like they need to make a splash.

Advantage, St. Louis.

Be prepared for the Rams possibly having three first round picks this year, or at least another couple next year.

But hey — at least it means Les Di Caprio (or is it Leonardo Snead?) won’t be drafting the guy in the video below.

Because frankly, they can draft all the Alec Ogletree’s they want.

As long as Sam Bradford is throwing the darts, the Rams will likely be as average as their quarterback.

Manziel put on a masterclass against Duke last night

In my latest mock draft I had Johnny Manziel at #4 to Cleveland.

He might need to be moved up even higher.

One performance doesn’t make a career, but making your last impression a good one can be crucial.

Manziel’s display against Duke will have the NFL talking today.

Everyone knows what he offers by now — incredible scrambling skills, the ability to improvise and extend plays, underrated talent as a passer and the ability to run a thoroughly modern NFL offense (including the read option).

Everyone knows the negatives too. The erratic mistakes, the plays where he tries to do too much, the lack of a big time arm (I’d argue it’s good enough, just not top-end) and the laundry list of bizarre off the field stories that include this article by ESPN that made him sound like a walking temper-tantrum.

But last night perhaps allayed some of those fears.

The Aggies trailed Duke 28-10 and 35-17. Defensively they were the usual shambles — conceding touchdowns on Duke’s first five possessions. And there was Manziel — rallying the troops. Leading his team. Pleading with his defense to get a stop, to take the football away.

All the while he battled away on to keep his team in the game — before leading a sensational comeback in a 52-48 victory.

This is what NFL teams want to see. No tantrums. No sulking. A man determined to win, taking responsibility and lifting every single player on that A&M sideline.

Once again he did things only he seems capable of. Take this touchdown for example…

Seriously, have you ever seen anything like that?

I’m a sucker for improvisation. It’s the single most underrated quality a quarterback can have. I don’t want a signal caller who collapses when his initial read or two isn’t there. I don’t want to rely on someone who buckles if the defense offers an exotic look, or wins at the LOS.

I want a guy who can make something out of nothing. Manziel is better at that than any quarterback we’ll ever see in college football.

He doesn’t need to be a choir boy. He can go to parties dressed as Scooby-Doo, wear a Tim Tebow jersey, say whatever he wants on Twitter. He just needs to prove he can be a leader. Whether he’s up for the 5:30am alarm call to be the first in the building, we won’t know until he makes the league.

But last night I guarantee a heck of a lot of NFL teams were salivating about Johnny Football being their guy.

Want a great example of how he acted as a leader last night? Mike Evans got into an unnecessary tussle with the #6 for Duke who was covering him early in the game. He got one silly flag for reacting to whatever was going on there — and added a second later on.

Manziel could sense he wasn’t focused — and this happened…

Again, that’s a guy taking responsibility. Instead of letting the coaches deal with it, Manziel does their job for them. For what it’s worth, Evans did settle down after this and made some plays.

So he might not be a Russell Wilson-esque workaholic who lives and breathes game tape. But he might be responsible enough to know he’s the quarterback and he has to lead by example.

I’ve no doubt a lot of GM’s will be digging out the Alabama game from last year. They’ll watch it, breathe it in.

Convince themselves even more.

We need this guy.

Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland, Minnesota. I’m almost certain that one of those teams is going to talk themselves into drafting Manziel in the top ten. And why not?

The Texans need a signal caller. Are they any more likely to win with Teddy Bridgewater?

The Jags need a reason to get excited. They need a face of the franchise, someone to build around. Manziel can get people talking about Jacksonville.

Cleveland is looking to end years of misery and are reportedly known admirers.

Oakland has nothing right now. What have they got to lose?

Minnesota’s spent the last three years trying to get by with mediocre, boring quarterbacks. Will they go for the home run?

Heck — even the Rams at #2 should be all over this. Who really wants to face this guy twice a year in the NFC West?

I certainly don’t.

Quite frankly I’d rather fail as a NFL GM putting my faith in this kind of quarterback instead of hoping a Sam Bradford pans out. Or that a Teddy Bridgewater will be better than average.

I’ll hold my hands up if I’m wrong, but I suspect last night is just the beginning of a huge clamour that ends up with Manziel going in the top three picks. Some of the teams listed above will talk themselves into feeling they have to have him.

Quite frankly if the Seahawks didn’t have Wilson — I suspect I’d be banging the drum for the guy myself.

The NFL will be more fun with Jonny Football. And I think he’s going to head into the pro’s as a top five pick.