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Johnny Manziel is arguably the most polarizing player heading into the 2014 NFL Draft. He’s controversial off the field and an enigma on it. NFL teams don’t know which way to lean, naturally causing his draft stock to fluctuate through the draft season.
It’s not so hard to gauge his future, though, per 12 of 20 polled NFL executives. According to a recent poll done by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 12 of 20 executives label the electrifying Manziel as a “miss”, essentially labeling him as a bust for this year’s draft.
Many scouts remain concerned about Manziel’s height and size, as he’s one of the smallest quarterbacks in this year’s draft class and NFL history doesn’t boast a large amount of successful quarterback under six feet. Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and Michael Vick are three high profile quarterbacks that have found major success at the highest level, however, leading the other eight polled execs to worry less about his size than others.
Ultimately, 12 out of 20 is a majority, but it’s also close to a split decision. That’s the expected take on Manziel, who even despite his size limitations can be a frustrating player to grade thanks to both his whimsical play-making, as well as his annoying bad habits.
It’s certainly worth noting what NFL executives say and think on both sides of the Johnny Football debate. Then again, it might not matter at all in the end. After all, a litany of scouts loved guys like JaMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf and Blaine Gabbert. Those three alone were three of the biggest busts at the quarterback position in the draft’s history.
On the flip-side, many were down on guys like Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and Cam Newton. Whether it was size, accuracy, consistency or decision-making, those guys were labeled busts prematurely by many and two of the three went on to win Super Bowls. And all three have turned into extremely successful quarterbacks.
The future isn’t yet written for Manziel, as May 8th’s draft is still about a week away. All we know for sure is that, just like his play on the field, we’re not quite sure what to expect next.
