Cleveland Browns to use Johnny Manziel in Tim Tebow Wildcat role?
By Josh Sanchez
What do Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel and former Florida Gators star Tim Tebow have in common?
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Well, they were both lightning rods for criticism once they joined the NFL and they will apparently be used in similar roles. At least a role that was planned for Tebow when he was a member of the New York Jets.
Before we go any further: No, this doesn’t mean Manziel will be the Browns personal punt protector.
Moving on…
During an interview with Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, Browns head coach Mike Pettine said that Manziel could be used in a special Wildcat package that will allow him to bring his talents to the field and change the pace of the Browns offense.
“We’ve already talked about it,” Pettine said about sprinkling the Wildcat into their offense.
“We’ve already installed elements of it in the spring. We ran some of the zone-read stuff in practice and Kyle [Shanahan] incorporated some of the mobile quarterback elements of what he did in Washington. We’re still going to go back to the beginning in pads, but as we get going, some of the stuff that’s more game-plan-specific that we don’t want to show, we might work on in our walk-throughs as opposed to a public practice.”
That role is what was initially planned for Tebow in New York, but he was never able to find the field.
We started out asking the similarities between Manziel and Tebow, so let’s finish with their differences.
What separates Manziel from Tebow? People believe he can be a successful NFL quarterback and he is expected to see the field at some point in 2014.