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Cleveland Browns: Josh McCown Must Now Be Better Than Johnny Manziel

By Zac Wassink

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By replacing second-year quarterback Johnny Manziel with veteran journeyman Josh McCown for a Week 3 showdown with the Oakland Raiders , Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine stuck to the original plan. Manziel is going to sit and learn behind McCown, perhaps for all of the 2015 National Football League regular season.

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The concept was originally easy enough to understand. Manziel and McCown could have not been more different from each other six months ago when McCown signed with the Browns. Manziel, formerly of Johnny Football fame, was a massive disappointment following a waste of a rookie campaign. Some within the local media, most notably a handful of Cleveland sports talk radio hosts, actively campaigned for the Browns to cut ties with Manziel. The 22-year old, meanwhile, had entered a rehabilitation facility, where he would stay for over 90 days.

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Enter McCown, a 36-year old who had no such problems linked with him. McCown was coming off of a 1-10 campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he was also a stabilizing force inside of the locker room and inside of huddles. McCown, unlike Brian Hoyer, would serve as both a true mentor for Manziel and also a bridge to when Manziel was ready to start, or to when the Browns would insert a different quarterback into the team’s starting lineup.

Things change in the NFL, often on a weekly basis. That is the case for the Browns as the final Sunday of September draws near.

Manziel is no longer the screw-up of a one-time Heisman Trophy winner trying to live off of past fame and of the achievements that made him a household name when he was at Texas A&M. His stint in rehab has, by all accounts, helped change Manziel personally and professionally. He is more mature and more professional than he ever was in 2014. There are no longer questions about Manziel lacking focus or dedication to the cause.

Pettine and fellow Cleveland coaches praising Manziel would be nice, but those words would mean little had we not seen Manziel 2.0 in action. Manziel received an opportunity to play in Week 1 after McCown suffered a concussion on the team’s first offensive drive of the season, and it was Manziel who served as quarterback of the Browns over the past seven quarters. There was some good. There was some bad.

There were those three touchdown passes, all of which were thrown to speedy wide receiver Travis Benjamin, and two of which occurred in Cleveland’s victory over the Tennessee Titans last Sunday.

Those moments were not enough for Manziel to get the nod over McCown; for now. All involved, most notably Pettine, are in denial if they do not realize that the situation has changed over the past couple of weeks. Manziel has not only looked far from lost on a NFL field. He has made plays, and he closed the Titans in a way that one would expect to see from a winning pro quarterback.

The leash on McCown must be shorter than it was at 12:59 pm ET on the first Sunday of the regular season, if only because Manziel may be the best play-maker the offense of the Browns has on the roster. McCown is not the home-run hitter Manziel was in his past two appearances. He was brought in to run a ball-control offense built on a dominant rushing attack, an attack that, according to NFL.com, has literally been average across two games after being non-existent against the New York Jets in Week 1.

Manziel has looked like the majority of rookie quarterbacks in his seven quarters of play this season. He has put the ball on shelf far too often — unofficially six times by my count. Both of Manziel’s in-game fumbles against the Titans were recovered by Cleveland teammates. Manziel has completed under 54 percent of his passes this season. He is averaging 1.5 turnovers per game, equal to the amount of times Manziel is finding the end zone per contest this year.

There is no concrete reason, upon examining McCown’s stats, to believe that he will exceed what Manziel has thus far accomplished this season in this offense. McCown has consistently matched touchdowns with interceptions during his career — 61 TDs to 59 picks. The drive in which McCown drove down the field on the Jets earned him a rating of 79.7. Manziel has a 99.7 rating after seven quarters. McCown hit his physical prime years ago. Manziel, the Browns are hoping, is not yet close to reaching his ceiling.

Things were so much simpler when it could be said, without much debate, that the Browns playing McCown for the majority of the fall was what was best for the team’s season and for Manziel’s future. By choosing to play McCown over Manziel, Cleveland coaches have unintentionally told the fan base of the Browns that they do not envision Manziel immediately improving to the point that he can consistently win on Sundays.

Pettine and his staff had better be correct, because there is now more than just next season on the line. What if, in benching Manziel, the Browns are costing the team’s project QB much-needed reps AND also making it more difficult to win games? The answer to that is simple: Pettine and company will likely be looking for new work next January. Betting on Manziel was far too risky for Pettine three weeks ago. That was understood and accepted.

Such understanding will quickly disappear if the offense of the Browns flops against the Raiders on Sunday.

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