Brian Hoyer’s clutch gene is keeping Johnny Manziel on the bench
The Cleveland Browns made one of the best comebacks that the NFL has seen in recent history yesterday against the Tennessee Titans, and quarterback Brian Hoyer put up a phenomenal second half. Hoyer was locked into a quarterback competition with hyped up rookie Johnny Manziel in training camp and preseason action, but ended up winning the job. His arm isn’t the best, but he has found a way to keep his Browns close against opponents so far this season.
Hoyer ended up throwing for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the game, but did turn the football over once as well.
Following the performance, there are quite a few fans and analysts talking about how good Hoyer can be and what the future of Manziel holds. Quite simply, the Browns are going to have to see some very poor play from Hoyer in order to consider starting Manziel over him. Cleveland might not make the playoffs this season, but Hoyer is showing some raw talent that could make him the starter in town for quite some time.
At just 28 years of age, he has plenty of football left in his arm, especially after not having much wear and tear through the early stages of his career. There are obvious areas that could use improvement, but the Browns have a very competent coaching staff and they will work to help Hoyer in any way that they can. Manziel has quite a bit of talent as well, but his attitude issues and some of his skills don’t translate very well to the NFL.
So where does that leave the quarterback competition going forward? How will Manziel handle being a backup long-term if that ends up being the case?
It’s hard to see the Browns wanting to trade the former Heisman Trophy winner, but that could be in the cards depending on how Hoyer plays for the remainder of the season. Manziel could very well become an issue in the locker room without seeing the field, and there are only so many ways that they can find to get him on the field while still sticking to Hoyer as their starter. A trade might be the best scenario for both parties, and there are plenty of teams out there that could use a young quarterback with talent for the future.
Obviously the Browns are still not sold on Hoyer being their long-term quarterback, but he has a chance to solidify himself throughout the rest of the season. Cleveland looks like a much different team than they have in quite some time, and the emergence of Hoyer is one of the main reasons. The main question becomes, can he keep up the same type of production that he has through the first four weeks?
Through the first four games of the season, Hoyer has thrown for 1,008 yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception. He has been an excellent game manager so far this year, and has taken care of the football. The Browns’ offense hasn’t been too terribly high-powered, but they have averaged 25.3 points per game. That type of offensive production is good enough to beat quite a few teams in the league if the defense can come through with some stops.
Head coach Mike Pettine never sounded like he wanted to start Manziel from the moment that he was drafted, and he saw the talent in Hoyer. The Browns believe that they haven’t seen Hoyer’s full potential yet either, and a good amount of improvement would make him the perfect option to lead Cleveland heading forward. Manziel simply doesn’t have great leadership skills yet, and he has had quite a bit of trouble reading NFL defenses and making plays through the air.
All of that being said, the Browns’ success with Hoyer has made Manziel expendable in the future should they choose to go that route. A quarterback with the potential that Manziel has could garner some good trade assets, but then again his attitude issues could scare some teams away as well. Cleveland has quite a few options moving forward, and trading Manziel certainly is one of them.
It’s going to be very intriguing to see what the Browns do moving forward now that they are competing each and every week. They have only lost two games by a total of five points with Hoyer at the helm, and they have a lot of room to improve. Hoyer’s play has been impressive, and he could be putting pressure on the Browns to consider committing to him long-term.
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