In what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel has -- by a huge margin -- the biggest following on social media of any top prospect in this draft. The No. 2 guy, though, might surprise you.
Manziel has a combined 1.52 million followers of his Twitter and Instagram accounts (even though he hasn't tweeted since January). He has more than five times as many followers as former Alabama QB AJ McCarron, who is the No. 2 guy on sportsbusinessdaily.com's list of the prospects with the biggest social-media following as of April 22. All of McCarron's followers are on Twitter, as he does not have an Instagram account; he is one of seven players in the top 50 who doesn't post on Instagram.
Sportsbusinessdaily.com reports it consulted NFL.com's draft rankings to come up with its list of the draft's top prospects.
South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is third on the list; his 155,050 followers are more than 100,000 fewer than McCarron's 276,249. Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins is fourth (128,941) while Auburn running back Tre Mason is fifth (114,520).
The list does not include four players that have at least 100,000 followers: Oregon running back De'Anthony Thomas, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, Missouri defensive end Michael Sam and Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd. No one in that quartet is considered an elite prospect. If their numbers were included, Thomas would rank third (261,088 followers), Murray fourth (215,954), Sam sixth (111,076) and Boyd seventh (109,819).
Manziel's propensity to -- ahem -- do things outside the scope of most prospects (and post about them) no doubt makes him a popular follow, and his numbers could shoot up if he makes his Twitter return next month, as promised.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
