You're a general manager or a head coach in the NFL. The subject is Johnny Manziel. You're not interested in the white noise that saturates Manziel across the airwaves and social media. Or at any rate you shouldn't be. Your job may be on the line. You should be focused on the tape that defines Manziel as a player. That's your starting point. What do you see? How do you evaluate it? Do you believe he can transition well to the NFL?

You begin with his size: 5-foot-11¾, 207 pounds. How many NFL quarterbacks who fit that profile are successful? You have to visualize Manziel in the league, not on Saturday afternoons. Size matters for a quarterback in the NFL. You can't dismiss that, so you better think hard about it and have a plan for what you want to do with Manziel within the context of your team.

You immediately think Drew Brees and Russell Wilson. Brees is the foundation of his offense. He's brilliant both before and after the snap. He's a quick-twitch athlete with outstanding pocket command and movement. He throws with extraordinary anticipation and precise ball location. He's a master pocket passer.

Wilson is a complementary quarterback on a Seattle Seahawks team driven by the running game and the best defense in the NFL. He's not asked to throw as much as other quarterbacks. He's tightly managed. His aptitude for "structured improvisation," with wonderful intuitive awareness, is among the best in the NFL. He's never reckless or random in his movement.

Can Manziel develop into Brees down the road? That kind of quarterback demands uncommon mental and physical discipline, and high level football intelligence. Is Manziel that guy? Are you going to closely monitor Manziel and manage how he plays? Are you going to build your offense around a foundation runner? Do you have a defense that can keep every game close?

What was Manziel at Texas A&M? He was a shotgun spread quarterback who ran a relatively unsophisticated pass offense with basic route concepts and defined reads. He was not asked to do much involving pass protection. A film study of Manziel reveals he had little awareness of defensive fronts and pressures. His development will require a significant learning curve. That means time. How much is impossible to answer now.

You also see a lithe, fluid athlete with quick, almost ballet-like feet, outstanding agility and maneuverability, and movement outside the pocket. You see a quarterback with great vision and accuracy on the move, especially sprinting to his left. Not many quarterbacks can do that. You start to build a balance sheet of pros and cons. Where will you eventually fall?

The tape of the Vanderbilt and Mississippi State games reveals some good passes from the pocket, particularly seam throws. Those are NFL throws. You see flashes of coverage recognition and manipulation. He looks like a balanced pocket passer with good lower body mechanics, a loose arm and a natural throwing motion that featured good weight transfer to drive the ball with velocity. It isn't there consistently, but you see it. And you saw it throughout his 2013 season.

He does not have a refined sense of anticipation, and that's a concern considering the speed and reaction time of NFL defenses, but there were many throws in which he looked like a comfortable pocket quarterback. These are all positives about Manziel playing in your stadium on Sunday afternoons.

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