Browns Should Draft Manziel, Not Bridgewater

Browns Should Draft Manziel, Not Bridgewater

The Cleveland Browns are considering former Louisville Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in this upcoming draft. However, there are many reasons that Cleveland should draft Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M instead.

In the 2014 NFL draft, the Browns have the 4th pick in the draft. Matt Smith, an analyst from NFL.com, predicted that the Cleveland Browns will definitely end up with Bridgewater.

One of the reasons I do not want Teddy Bridgewater from a fan standpoint is that he is not as fun to watch as Johnny Manziel, nor does he have as much hype around him. Bridgewater is 6’3 but very skinny, which puts him at high risk for injury, especially in cold weather and against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, two of the hardest hitting teams in the NFL.  Johnny Manziel is just 6’1, but weighs five pounds more than Bridgewater.

Another negative issue for Bridgewater is that as a college student, he did not have the opportunity to prove himself against the best teams in in the NCAA. Bridgewater and the Cardinals were in the American division, which includes teams like UCF, Temple, Memphis, South Florida and Cincinnati. None of these team are power-houses in college football.  Bridgewater did not have to play teams like Alabama, Florida State or Auburn. Johnny Manziel, on the other hand, proved himself in the SEC conference with some of the biggest names in college football like Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Louisiana State, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, which are all ranked teams.

The final issue with Teddy Bridgewater is that he did not live up to the hype and win the Heisman trophy two years ago; the winner was Johnny Manziel. Teddy Bridgewater’s stats in 2012 were 287 completions, 3718 yards, 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Compared to Johnny Manziel’s 295 completions, 3706 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions. This shows again that Teddy Bridgewater had almost identical stats to Johnny Manziel in totally different divisions. Additionally, Manziel won the Heisman that same year.

All in all, Bridgewater is still a respected quarterback playing at the collegiate level and soon to be in the NFL. I would also prefer to have Manziel because he has more star power. Manziel is a highlight maker and a clutch performer who has proven himself in tough situations, while Bridgewater has lost almost every bowl game in which he has played, nor hor have his games been as tough as Manziel’s.