Johnny Manziel should be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
Mike Pettine, it’s time to finally give Johnny Football a real chance to make the position his own. Cleveland deserves to have a football team it can finally be excited about, and one that might be able to win some games, too.
I don’t dislike current quarterback Josh McCown, but how many fans are going to walk into FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday and say, “Man, I’m excited to see Josh McCown air it out today?” Nobody.
I’m willing to wager people aren’t buying Browns tickets to see McCown under center.
If by some twist of fate Pettine changed his mind and decided to start Manziel, ESPN would devote 30 minutes an hour to talking about it, and Twitter would implode.
Since returning to the NFL in 1999, Cleveland had two winning seasons, and they’ve only made the playoffs once. In other words, there hasn’t been much for Browns fans to be excited about in the 21st century.
So why are you leaving the guy who sells tickets and makes people turn on the TV on your bench? People want to see him play, so play him.
You can argue McCown is a better, more experienced quarterback.
However, McCown has been average through his NFL career. His completion percentage is only 58.8 percent. He’s thrown nearly as many interceptions (59) as touchdowns (61).
Manziel’s completion percentage is lower (52.7 percent), but with three touchdowns and three picks, his touchdown to interception ratio is similar to McCown’s, although it’s a smaller sample size. Opposing teams will also have to be more conscious about Manziel burning them with his running ability than McCown.
Most importantly, I’d be shocked if McCown hasn’t hit his ceiling as a 36-year-old. He’s not going to develop much more. Manziel is a 22-year-old who has a chance to improve dramatically with more reps.
Why not start the young guy with a whole career ahead of him?
Cleveland isn’t winning anything with McCown. OK, they’ll win some games, but they’re not going to have any opponents trembling with fear.
They might not win much more — if any — with Manziel, but they’ll be investing in a guy who could be a decent starter in a few seasons, and people will actually be excited to watch the Cleveland Browns play. Imagine that.
Jack Woods is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Ruston, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Jack_TDR.