Mike Pettine made it clear before the draft that he'd rather not throw a rookie quarterback into the fire during his first NFL season, but you don't draft Johnny Manziel to clutch a clipboard.
Or do you?
Cleveland's coach told reporters Thursday night that he still believes starting the year with Brian Hoyer at the position is a wise move.
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"I do," Pettine said. "Whether (Manziel) was taken at No. 4 or going at No. 22, it'll be a competition, and I meant that when I said it."
General manager Ray Farmer acknowledged that he reached out to Hoyer after Cleveland's wild evening that included a whopping three trades and the drafting of cornerback Justin Gilbert before the team unearthed its new franchise passer.
"Bring it on," Hoyer texted about the competition ahead, according to his GM.
"I don't think you can hand jobs to people when they come in," Pettine said. "It's a situation where, despite what's around him and what's following him and there will be that pressure to play him, we're in the business of evaluating who will be the best quarterback for the Cleveland Browns to win football games and that's who's going to play, whether that's Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel."
This should feel familiar to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who prepared Robert Griffin III to start as a rookie two seasons ago in Washington. On the other side of the country, in Washington State, Russell Wilson played all 16 games his first season, as did Andrew Luck in Indy.
As Dan Hanzus noted on Thursday's late-night podcast draft special, Vince Young just can't catch a break -- and Hoyer might feel the same way -- but the Browns, for the first time in decades, have too much of a good thing under center.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" provides instant reaction to all the wild happenings in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
