The variance of opinions on Johnny Manziel's NFL potential couldn't be more diverse for a potential top-10 draft pick, and it appears the former Texas A&M star's pro-day work out did nothing to lessen the polarization.
Two NFL scouts texted Houston radio host Lance Zierlein (the son of longtime NFL assistant OL coach Larry Zierlein) in the days following Manziel's 64-throw workout in College Station last Thursday. One graded Manziel as a third-day pick (rounds 4-7) and suggested that the A&M QB doesn't compare at all with Robert Griffin III as a draft prospect.
Yet the other couldn't have had Manziel graded any higher entering the workout.
It's not the first suggestion we've had that there might be significant trepidation around the league about whether Manziel is truly one of the draft's top three quarterback prospects, along with Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles. The drumbeat of negatives continues to center around durability, maturity and Manziel's ability to make winning plays from the pocket. Meanwhile, the opportunity to acquire the next Russell Wilson, or perhaps even better, figures to be too enticing for an NFL club willing to take its offense in a less traditional direction.
One thing is apparent: The NFL clubs prone to playing it safe in the first round of the draft, with as much or more regard to a prospect's floor as his ceiling where potential is concerned, don't figure to be the ones interested in Manziel.
Griffin himself, as the 2012 draft's No. 2 overall pick, has perhaps given NFL teams a glimpse of both the best and worst of what might be to come for Manziel in his first two years in the league. An exciting rookie season leading to a playoff appearance, followed by a serious knee injury and a less-than-spectacular Year Two.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
