Johnny Manziel expects to be Cleveland Browns starter in Week 1
The NFL world has been centered around the off-the-field behavior of Johnny Manziel, but the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback is in the middle of a quarterback battle with Brian Hoyer, and believes he’ll “absolutely” beat him out for the starting job.
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Manziel was drafted with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the same slot the Browns used to draft Brady Quinn and Brandon Weeden in year’s past, but Manziel is looking to blaze a different path than those first round busts and is confident he can beat Hoyer for the job.
“Absolutely,” Manziel said when asked if he expects to start the season opener vs. Pittsburgh.
“I want to play. That’s what anybody wants to do. Anybody that’s been a starter in the past, and been playing, they want to play,” he said. “To say I don’t want to be the starter, that would be ridiculous.
“I absolutely want to start, that’s my goal. Hopefully I can achieve that.”
You wouldn’t expect him to say otherwise, would you?
Manziel is obviously a competitor and has work to do in order to beat out Hoyer, who is in negotiations with the team for an extension, but it’s not as if Hoyer is the second coming of Joe Montana or John Elway.
Browns first-year head coach Mike Pettine said earlier this offseason that Hoyer would be the started entering training camp, but his lead over the 2012 Heisman winner was not insurmountable, so Manziel’s expectations may become a reality once the calendar flips to September.
DO you believe Manziel is right and he’ll be the Week 1 starter for Cleveland?