College: Texas A&M
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 207 pounds
Positives
Accuracy: While Manziel has his fair share of misses due to questionable footwork, he often overcomes such issues. When his feet are set, and more often than not when they are not set, Manziel can be a surgeon on all levels of the field. Manziel does not have elite arm strength to easily fit short throws with just his arm, but he understands how to compensate for his lack of elite arm strength by leading receivers a tad further than the Cam Newtons of the world would have to.
As a baseline, look at Andy Dalton. Arm strength-wise he is similar to Manziel, yet lacks the ability to consistently lead receivers in short, hurried passes. In the intermediate game, Manziel flashes genius anticipation and ball placement. Although such passes were relatively scarce in A&M's offense compared to pro-style offenses, Manziel showed that he has the talent to win that aspect of the passing game.
Despite having a cannon arm, Manziel's deep throws are better than all but a few of the quarterbacks in this class. He throws a tight spiral that does not have too much hang time. The throws have a beautiful arch that end with the ball hitting the receivers hands as he is in stride. No matter the area of the field, Manziel can make the throw.
Mental Ability: Manziel's mental maturity tends to be seen as a negative, but that is unwarranted. As stated before, Manziel shows glimpses of brilliant anticipation. Yes, there are moments of poor anticipation, but the glimpses can be built upon, as opposed to a player that did not flash the ability at all. Likewise, Manziel manipulates safeties post-snap better than almost every quarterback in the class.
He showed the trait multiple times on high-stakes stages against top tier safeties, including Alabama. Manziel knows how to read his first receiver, read the second, hold a safety, then finally hit his receiver on the opposite sideline for a huge gain. Oddly, Manziel's ability to read through progressions is looked down upon. In reality, it is more a product of Sumlin's air-raid than it is Manziel's lack of talent. When Manziel had to go through multiple reads on a given play, he showed that he seldom fixated on targets he did not feel confident that he could hit.
Athleticism: All upper echelon quarterbacks win from the pocket, which Manziel does, but having an extra element to beat defenses is always welcome. If need be, Manziel can escape chasing defenders and either make a throw on the move or take off into the open field ahead of him. It is often perceived that he is a straight line speed demon, but he is not. Speed is there, yes, but he is more of a lateral runner. He has the quickness and agility to stop on a dime to evade oncoming defenders.Much like the current crop of young quarterbacks in the NFL, Manziel will be able to extend plays and move the chains with his feet, if necessary.
Negatives
Handling of Pass Rushers: Manziel is not scared of pass rushers because he still makes plays after escaping the pocket, but he ought to hang in the pocket more often. He is not scared of the 280-pound lineman, but as opposed to stepping around them to create time in the pocket, he bails the pocket. Manziel is a materially gifted passer and to see him continually bail pockets is a shame. That is not to say that he cannot fix the issue, but it may take more than one NFL off-season. To be fair, he improved in the area from his freshman year to sophomore year, but it was still a prevalent problem. If Manziel were to be "tamed" to stay in the pocket more often, he could be lethal.
Footwork: There are moments where Manziel's footwork has little to no affect on his accuracy, but when it does, it can be terribly problematic. His footwork during drops is fine, but Manziel does not set his feet to throw as often as he needs to. Even if he anticipates the throw efficiently, his poor footwork can lead to him missing his intended target or, in less severe situations, restrict yards after the catch. Manziel must change that. Cleaner passes lead to more yards, which leads to more first downs, leading to more touchdowns, and so on. The top tier quarterbacks of the NFL are able to complete cleaner passes due to their footwork. In order to join that tier, Manziel absolutely must clean up his footwork.
NFL Comparison: Jeff Garcia, Retired*
In terms of style, Manziel is currently quite similar to Garcia. Their "backyard" style of play in which they create controlled chaos is paralleled. Manziel is a better passer than Garcia was, both from an arm talent standpoint and a mental standpoint. Garcia was not a bad quarterback, but was never a franchise player. Manziel is a maxed out version of Garcia and can certainly be the face of a franchise.
Draft Outlook
No player is more of a wildcard in this draft than Johnny Manziel. He could go as high as the first pick, but may also slip to the second round due to his size. Although, he may realistically end up within the top ten, quite likely to either Oakland or Cleveland. Minnesota appears to be out of the question considering head coach Mike Zimmer does not seem fond of Manziel.
Best Fits
Despite having just signed Matt Schaub, the Oakland Raiders are still in need of a franchise quarterback. Having Schaub allows the Raiders staff to "redshirt" Manziel if they feel it is necessary, allowing him to slowly ease into the NFL with the "sit and simmer" approach.
The Cleveland Browns have once again found themselves without an established quarterback. Considering the supporting crew in Cleveland, as well as Kyle Shanahan's system, should ease into the NFL through a more direct "learn from experience" approach.