The time may finally have come for us to get a look at that Johnny Manziel package people have been speculating about since three seconds after Brian Hoyer was named the starter for the Cleveland Browns.
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Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says that desperation will prompt Cleveland to finally get Manziel on the field in a specially-designed package:
With Jordan Cameron out and no Josh Gordon, look for Browns to go with specific packages for Johnny Manziel. Feel need to get creative...
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) September 14, 2014
Browns coordinator Kyle Shanahan short on personnel and the need to be proactive w/scheme will lead to Johnny Foootball seeing field some
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) September 14, 2014
La Canfora reports that Cleveland has been working on read-option plays for Manziel all offseason.
I guess if you have the read-option looks in your offense, you might as well try to use them with a quarterback who actually gives you a running threat.
Of course this just begs the question: What if Johnny Manziel lights it up running his read-option Johnny Football package?
The better Manziel looks out there, the more pressure there will be on Mike Pettine to end the Brian Hoyer era and begin the Age of JFF.
At this point, Pettine is just looking for ways to score points and win games, and likely doesn’t care how that gets done or who does it.
Pettine would rather be 1-1 with a QB controversy on his hands than 0-2 with no controversy whatsoever.