Johnny Manziel was a polarizing prospect when he entered the NFL, and his height was one of the knocks against him.
At just under 6-feet, Manziel is not as tall as some of the other quarterbacks in the league. He specifically cited that as an issue when facing taller players on defense because it limits his downfield vision.
“I’m not going to be able to sit there like some of these taller quarterbacks in the league and just be able to see everything happen as the play is on,” Manziel said Wednesday via ESPN’s Pat McManamon. “There’s going to be times where I’m not going to be able to see something. I’m going to have to make a faith throw knowing, ‘Hey, it’s Cover 3 [coverage] and this guy is here and this guy went there with where this person is.’
“As I continue to watch film and I continue to play in these games, there’s going to be times where I’m gonna not be able to see everything, like everyone else as clear as day. I think I’m getting better at it, but I’m nowhere near perfect, that’s for sure.”
Manziel’s comments came in the context of questions about him running rather than passing when under duress. Manziel concedes that it is his instinct to scramble when things break down, but he knows he should start looking for checkdowns.
Even if Manziel thinks his height is a disadvantage, his Cleveland Browns coaches disagree.
“I see part of it as a positive,” Browns head coach Mike Pettine said. “The realization is that he’s going to have to understand where to move in the pocket to create some throwing lanes. When you study a Drew Brees, you can see that he’s not a scrambler but he has great sense in the pocket as far as where to move in relation to who he’s throwing to and where the potential throwing lane would be. Russell Wilson is similar in that aspect as well.”
Again, a lot of this comes down to Manziel spending more time studying the game, watching film, and getting practice reps so that he improves his game.
