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For Johnny Manziel Sunday: Script Matters

By Jared Mueller

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The Cleveland Browns face off with the Cincinnati Bengals tomorrow at home in the debut of Johnny Manziel as an NFL starting quarterback. Much has been and will be made about what will happen tomorrow. In a lot of ways we just don’t know.

Generally the best way to predict future behavior is to look back at past behavior, except the stock market. Those who were terrible with their money when they were just making ends meet, are terrible with their money when they win the lottery. Those who were faithful to their wife/girlfriend when they were a nobody, are faithful to their wife/girlfriend when they are a somebody. Doesn’t mean people can’t change, just much easier to make a guess based on what you have seen.

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    • What we have seen from Johnny Manziel in the NFL is a mixed bag. Without taking into account the pre-season, just looking at the Buffalo Bills game, we are in for excitement tomorrow. A few plays stand out from the Buffalo game that gives us some clues as to what we will see from Manziel:

    • The rocket armed throw to Jim Dray over the middle for 24 yards.
      • The safety almost got there but Manziel’s strong arm got the throw in there.
    • The 10 yard scramble two plays later for a touchdown.
      • The awareness and elusiveness to make something out of very little.
    • The fumble, that wasn’t, that led to Manziel laying down in the endzone.
      • Trying to make something out of nothing, instead of throwing it away when protection broke down quickly.

    Just a few plays but plays that show us that things will get very interesting Sunday for Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns. Expecting a larger scale version of the above three plays throughout the game would be appropriate.

    Yet just like the Bills game there will be a few dump offs and check downs. Unlike the Buffalo game, where the Browns were behind and trying to catch up, the Browns will run the ball quite often. That might include a few Zone Read plays pulled out of the old RG3 playbook of Kyle Shanahan.

    It most likely won’t be any of those type of plays that are most talked about. It will be the exciting ones, the run around ones, the broken plays and, yes, even the big mistakes that will get the press. But for us there are 10 to 15 plays that are most important for tomorrow. That deserve a ton of attention and could be decisive for both the outcome of the game and how Johnny Manziel is analyzed.

    The first 10 to 15 plays are the most important. Those are going to be the plays scripted out by Shanahan and the Browns offensive staff to put Manziel, and the entire offense, in position to succeed early. Similar to what Urban Meyer and Tom Hermann did with Cardale Jones, the Browns will likely want to calm down Manziel with a specific plan to make him successful. These plays will be scripted to make that happen.

    The scripted plays also allow the rest of the Browns to know exactly what to expect, to be honed in on what is going to happen. Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West will have a good idea when and where they are getting their touches early. Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron will have a good idea how they will be involved early as well.

    These plays will also give Manziel very clear cut expectations from the coaches of what to do. Not a ton of thinking, just read and react kind of things. Three step drop, get the ball out. Do not expect any broken plays early in the game, those will come later. Instead the offensive coaches will want to find a rhythm for Johnny with both the run and pass early.

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    (Sort of a Prediction: The Browns have opened early with a quick screen pass to Josh Gordon since his return. I expect an early fake screen, with a back-end wheel route to either Cameron or Taylor Gabriel, who will look like blockers at first, off of that very same look. Shanahan has done a good job in most games of breaking tendencies and I expect it here as well.)

    The early scripted plays will provide us some insight into what the offensive staff thinks about Manziel. Do they set him up to succeed and make plays with both his arms or legs or do they play very conservatively trying to minimize any chance of mistakes from Manziel? If it is the later, the fear that Manziel isn’t ready to start in the NFL could be a true feeling from the coaches. If it is the former, Manziel will be given every chance to win the game the same way Brian Hoyer has been.

    Tomorrow’s game will be analyzed in a variety of fashions. We are thinking about analyzing every Johnny Manziel decision/pass play, instead of our normal quarterly big play and quarterly analysis. Many will look at the big plays, good and bad. Some will break down the correct reads, progressions and accuracy. Others will only be worried about the outcome and the excitement.

    For us those first 10 to 15 scripted plays will give definition to the game. We know Johnny Manziel can do well going off script, how successful he is with the script he is given tomorrow is far more interesting to us.

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    How do you think Kyle Shanahan and the Cleveland Browns will script the first 10 to 15 plays for Johnny Manziel tomorrow?

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