Johnny Manziel To Start Second Preseason Game For The Cleveland Browns

With the starting QB job still up for grabs, the Cleveland Browns Johnny Manziel may have just been given a leg up over incumbent Brian Hoyer.

The NFL Network is reporting via Twitter that Johnny Manziel will indeed get the nod over Brian Hoyer in the second preseason game for Cleveland against the Washington Redskins. The source for the tip comes from NFL Network’s own Dan Hellie:

News from @DanHellie: Johnny Manziel will start second preseason game, via team source.

— NFL: AroundTheLeague (@NFL_ATL) August 10, 2014

If these reports are accurate and Manziel does indeed start, the match-up next week is intriguing, to say the least, as Johnny Football will square off against a similar style quarterback with an equally impressive nickname in RG3. Like Johnny Football, Robert Griffith III is also a mobile quarterback that has displayed flashes of brilliance in the past. The knock on both Johnny and Robert is that their style of play opens the door for injury.

Griffith proved his critics right during his rookie campaign. Despite leading his team to the playoffs that year, RG3 ultimately succumbed to a knee injury sustained from scrambling around the field too often. Following surgery to repair it, RG3’s game suffered greatly in his sophomore season. This kind of outcome is exactly what many fear will happen to Johnny Manziel in the NFL because his game is predicated on scrambling and running around.

But despite those fears, Johnny Football went out and performed well in his preseason debut last night. As reported by Inquistr, Johnny Manziel showed flashes of brilliance throughout the second and third quarters. Manziel got in with 7:32 left in the second quarter, replacing teammate Brian Hoyer in the eventual 13-12 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Yahoo! Sports called Johnny Manziel’s performance “pure Johnny Football” noting how much drama there was even with only a limited amount of time spent on the field:

“Only Manziel can create such theater during a boring preseason game in Detroit. The delight of watching him play is in knowing there’s always another web to tangle, always another predicament. There he was, on only his third play from scrimmage in the second quarter, hopping outside of the pocket and running into three Lions. He was stuffed for no gain – the Road Runner getting caught by the Coyote – and the haters reveled.”

Dan Hellie meanwhile tweeted his own review of Manziel’s performance, looking forward to seeing Johnny against first team defenses next week:

Johnny Manziel looks a lot like he did in college…. I can’t wait to see him against defensive starters next week. #realtest

— Dan Hellie (@DanHellie) August 10, 2014

And if his reports are accurate, Johnny Manziel will indeed get that chance.

[Images Via brandthunder.com and thebiglead.com]