ESPN NFL analyst Merril Hoge is not a Johnny Manziel fan.
On Wednesday, Hoge discussed Manziel on “SportsCenter” and explained why he’s down on the former Heisman Trophy winner.
“He has absolutely no instinct or feel for pocket awareness,” Hoge said. “He has an instinct to run. That’s a bad instinct if you’re going to have that in the National Football League. You have to play in the pocket with traffic around you and throw it. When traffic comes around him he runs, and that’s dangerous in the National Football League.”
Hoge showed two plays from A&M’s game against Ole Miss where he thought Manziel made mistakes. On one play, Hoge felt Manziel didn’t make the correct read on a blitz despite rushing for a first down. On another play, Hoge felt Manziel should have thrown to a fade route in the end zone instead of into double-coverage for what ended up being one of Manziel’s 13 interceptions last season.
Hoge believes Manziel is not very accurate, does not play very smart and is reckless. Though he says Manziel is exciting, he does not consider that a skill.
We haven’t been a fan of Hoge’s analysis for a while. The guy ripped Tim Tebow two years ago, and he was critical of Matt Barkley. I don’t see Manziel being a bust at all, though I do think he could end up being injured because of his tendency to run. That to me is a very legitimate point.
