Although Johnny Manziel won’t start against the Washington Redskins on Monday against, he’ll still be the main point of discussion before, during and after the game.
With head coach Mike Pettine of the Browns wanting to name a starter before the third preseason game, this will presumably be the final battle between Manziel and Brian Hoyer for the starting job.
Johnny Football started out his professional career, by completing 7 of his 11 passes for 63 yards. He also carried the ball six times for 27 yards.
During Week 2 of the preseason, the first thing to watch for when Manziel steps on the field is who his supporting cast is. In Week 1, he played with the second offensive line, which was a significant downgrade from the starting unit that Hoyer played with.
On the first designed run Manizel had on a third-and-short, the left side of the line blew all of their assignments, and backup tight end Gary Barnidge completely blew his assignment, leading to a loss on the play.
If Pettine decides to keep the first unit on the field for Manziel, he and Hoyer will be on a far more level playing field, especially in the run game for Manziel.
In the backfield, Manziel was paired with rookie back Terrance West, who could be in line for a significant workload with the Browns this season, but it was his first professional action as well. At times West would be hesitant to attack a rushing lane, and it was basic jitters for any rookie back.
If the Browns don’t send Ben Tate on the field for any of Manziel’s snaps, it’ll allow the Redskins to focus more on Manziel in the running game. And, if the starters are absent, it could just mean that Pettine has already made up his mind, and he’s going with Hoyer for Week 1 of the regular season and just wants Hoyer to get his reps in with the rest of the starters.
The other thing to watch is the kind of plays that Manziel runs when he is on the field. Under new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, Manziel will be running plays similar to the ones Shanahan called for Robert Griffin III when he was in Washington.
During Griffin’s rookie year, when Shanahan wasn’t pumping the brakes on designed quarterback rushes, they ran the pistol a ton to fool offenses. When running that formation — when the quarterback lines up three yards back to field a shotgun snap and one or two running backs line up behind or next to the quarterback — running quarterbacks such as Griffin and Manziel can make reads on the defenses and choose to hand the ball off, run a play-action pass, or keep the ball themselves and run it.
Below is one example of a rush that Griffin had last season against the Chicago Bears out of the pistol.
Last week, Manziel ran an almost identical play, except he ran it to the opposite side of the field.
Even if Manziel doesn’t start Week 1, the assumption is he’ll take over at some point this season. When he does come in, Shanahan could rely on the pistol offense, something he can’t do with Hoyer on the field.
The effectiveness of Manziel in the pistol could sway Pettine to make a decision one way or another. As Griffin and Shanahan showed in 2012, NFL defenses have a tough time defending read-option plays (Washington had the best rushing offense that season) out of the pistol.
Even for the casual football fan, seeing Manziel run these plays, even in the preseason, could be exciting. If he gets some good blocks at the second level of the defense, he could break off a long run and make one of the patented Manziel plays.
This quarterback battle may even carry over in to the third preseason game if Hoyer and Manziel are still that even. But as the battle unfolds, watching who Manziel plays with and how he’s utilized will be key to understanding his role in Cleveland this year.