With training camp arriving, there may be no bigger position battle in the NFL than Brian Hoyer versus Johnny Manziel. And by the look of things, Hoyer seems to have the leg up on the 2014 first-round pick as head coach Mike Pettine says Hoyer will start in the teams opening preseason game.
"I haven’t made that decision. That will have to be earned. Brian will start the first preseason game if nothing else changes. There’s plenty of time in there, daily updates staff-wise, to decide then how we want to (proceed). There’s a lot of different ways it can play out."
With Manziel being an unproven NFL product, the Browns are taking the best route available despite the amount of fanfare that’s pushing for Manziel to emerge as the team’s starting quarterback. In the end, there is a high chance Manziel wins the quarterback battle, may it be a few weeks into training camp or during the middle of the season, but from all that’s known, the player who gives the Browns the best chance to win games early on is the guy with NFL experience–Brian Hoyer.
The Browns find themselves in a situation of picking the bigger sell or the better talent. Hoyer’s better, but he won’t draw a crowd like Manziel will. During his time in Texas, there were few players who drew the attention of the world like Johnny did, whether we’re speaking of his on the field antics or off.
One of the worst franchises of the last and current decade, inserting Manziel into the starting lineup could usher in a new era, an era where we speak of the Browns like we do the other entertaining teams in the league. Surely enough, that’s a draw that remains on the mind of the front office.
But for now, the job is Hoyers. Will this be the case two weeks, a month, or two months from now? No one knows, but we’ll all be watching to see how this plays out.