The Cleveland Browns announced Wednesday morning on Twitter that Josh McCown, now cleared from the concussion he suffered in Week 1, would resume his role as the team’s starting quarterback, knocking the historic Johnny Manziel back to QB2, a decision sure to cause controversy in Cleveland and launch 1,000 segments on First Take.
Why take out Manziel, who won his first start this season, has been a reliable deep threat and has a better quarterback rating than Tony Romo, Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning? Well, whether through dumb luck or great foresight, Cleveland made the right move. McCown had to regain his job and Manziel needed to go back to the bench. It was the only move to make.
The Browns want Johnny Manziel to be their quarterback of the future. But, with a team that still isn’t ready for primetime, minus the occasional Travis Benjamin highlight, putting in Manziel now is essentially setting him up to fail. If he were made the starting quarterback in late September, there’s a high likelihood he’d be back on the bench in mid-October because of a failure to produce. Some of that would be his fault, a lot of it would be because of his supporting cast. The clamoring for the 36-year-old John McCown would get deafening and Mike Pettine would have no choice but to cave to a decision he already made in the preseason. (And that’s not to be underestimated either: Pettine had already decided this on his starter this year.)
It’s better for things to play out the other way. Let McCown play this season. Give Manziel another year to develop, something that used to happen to young quarterbacks until some broke out early and made the rest of the NFL want to see if their rookies could do it too. Sure, Manziel might be forced to play if McCown is completely ineffective or gets hurt again (both possibilities) but, if that happens, at least Browns management can throw up their hands and say “hey, we tried!” Then they can blame Manziel’s theoretical ineffectiveness on having no option but to throw him to the wolves (the wolves in this case being the Ravens defense).
Johnny Manziel needs all the time on the bench the Browns can afford. He’ll be better for it, growing both personally and professionally every week. Let McCown play his season, pay him off his (cheap) guaranteed money in 2016, then start the Manziel experiment anew. The NFL is all about now, now now. Sometimes, waiting is the best play.
Why take out Manziel, who won his first start this season, has been a reliable deep threat and has a better quarterback rating than Tony Romo, Russell Wilson and Peyton Manning? Well, whether through dumb luck or great foresight, Cleveland made the right move. McCown had to regain his job and Manziel needed to go back to the bench. It was the only move to make.
The Browns want Johnny Manziel to be their quarterback of the future. But, with a team that still isn’t ready for primetime, minus the occasional Travis Benjamin highlight, putting in Manziel now is essentially setting him up to fail. If he were made the starting quarterback in late September, there’s a high likelihood he’d be back on the bench in mid-October because of a failure to produce. Some of that would be his fault, a lot of it would be because of his supporting cast. The clamoring for the 36-year-old John McCown would get deafening and Mike Pettine would have no choice but to cave to a decision he already made in the preseason. (And that’s not to be underestimated either: Pettine had already decided this on his starter this year.)
It’s better for things to play out the other way. Let McCown play this season. Give Manziel another year to develop, something that used to happen to young quarterbacks until some broke out early and made the rest of the NFL want to see if their rookies could do it too. Sure, Manziel might be forced to play if McCown is completely ineffective or gets hurt again (both possibilities) but, if that happens, at least Browns management can throw up their hands and say “hey, we tried!” Then they can blame Manziel’s theoretical ineffectiveness on having no option but to throw him to the wolves (the wolves in this case being the Ravens defense).
Johnny Manziel needs all the time on the bench the Browns can afford. He’ll be better for it, growing both personally and professionally every week. Let McCown play his season, pay him off his (cheap) guaranteed money in 2016, then start the Manziel experiment anew. The NFL is all about now, now now. Sometimes, waiting is the best play.
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