NEW YORK -- Johnny Manziel has been known to praise Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson as something of a trailblazer for smaller, mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, and did so again Wednesday after the NFL Play 60 Youth Football Festival (due apologies, Doug Flutie.) But don't tell Manziel that the Seahawks' attack is the only offense that can accomodate one.
The Philadelphia Eagles, he said, are another.
"I don't think Russell Wilson or some of those guys in the league fit a cookie-cutter mold. I think they actually do some things that are very traditional, but at the same time I feel like the NFL is changing a little bit. There are new things that are coming in. You look at what Chip Kelly's doing in Philly that hasn't really been done a ton in the past," Manziel said. "I think it's changing a little bit."
In a league reputed for limited differences offensively from team to team, Manziel's scrambling and sometimes-reckless style could use as much diversity as possible where his NFL draft stock is concerned. The Seahawks pick last in the first round as Super Bowl champions (No. 32), and the Eagles pick at No. 22. By that time, Manziel hopes to be long gone in a draft that could go in any number of first-round directions for quarterbacks.
In fact, in addressing rumors that the Dallas Cowboys could be interested in him at the No. 16 overall pick, Manziel said he hopes to be gone by that point, as well.
"He's a huge figure in the state of Texas," Manziel said of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. "I was fortunate to get to know him more and the way he's treated me has been great. I would obviously like to go a little bit sooner than that, but it's out of my control."
And so is his future offense. But if he's lucky, that offense will bend to his strengths as much as he's asked to bend for it.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
