Lovie Would “Enjoy” Shot To “Unleash” Manziel
April 24th, 2014
“I tried to stop you, Johnny, and I couldn’t.”
Lovie Smith has prepared for many dangerous, multi-talented quarterbacks in his days as a linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and head coach.
And one top draft guru thinks that perspective of the game helps make Johnny Football a likely target of the Bucs.
Daniel Jeremiah, the former scout who is now one of NFL Network’s three year-round draft experts, penned a piece for NFL.com analyzing the Bucs’ draft needs, and the quarterback position (no surprise) was fourth on his list. Jeremiah speculates the Bucs have two QBs in mind for their future.
4) Quarterback
Given that they added McCown in free agency, it’s safe to assume the Bucs aren’t all that high on second-year pro Mike Glennon. I saw some positive signs from the young quarterback during his rookie season, but I’m not sure he’s their long-term answer. Then again, neither is McCown — he turns 35 in July.
With the seventh overall pick, there’s a chance Tampa Bay will have its choice among the top quarterbacks in the draft. Of the group, I’d keep an eye on Johnny Manziel. Defensive-minded coaches like Lovie appreciate the difficulty involved in trying to slow down a player with Manziel’s unique skill set. I think he’d enjoy the opportunity to unleash that type of playmaker on opposing teams. If the Bucs wait until the third round to land their next signal-caller, there’s a chance AJ McCarron could still be on the board. The Alabama quarterback’s accuracy and decision-making are both excellent. Although he might not have the kind of physical tools that wow NFL decision-makers, he is a two-time BCS national champion.
Joe’s got no interest in McCarron from a football perspective, and Joe wasn’t impressed face to face at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. But, as regular readers here know, Joe thinks it’s critical that the Bucs draft their quarterback of the future this year. There’s simply no logical reason to wait.
Johnny Football is, of course, a QB with a diverse skill set and plenty of positive intangibles, but Joe doesn’t think Lovie will be swayed by any of the wow factor surrounding Johnny Football or thoughts of giving his old friend Ron Rivera fits in preparation for opening day, like Jeremiah suggests.
Lovie has and will evaluate Johnny Football at his position and as a leader and on how he believes elite coaching will elevate Johnny Football’s game, and Joe’s confident that score is going to be extremely high. High enough for the Bucs to draft him.
April 24th, 2014 at 9:42 am
smokescreen,
if all the QB’s are on the board, the bucs will try very hard to trade down.
April 24th, 2014 at 9:54 am
Why don’t you post any pics of Les Miles or Dan Quinn? They know how to stop Johnny.
April 24th, 2014 at 9:57 am
Tedford likes quick feet, quick release, athletic scrambling ability, smart, and a guy who can make all the throws.
So does Lovie.
Manziel is all of the above and a great teammate and leader.
Get him.
Cam Newton vs. Johnny Football in early Sept.
Glazers can you say sell out? Merchandise sales? Excitement? Instant relevance.
April 24th, 2014 at 9:59 am
“There’s simply no logical reason to wait.”
If they don’t care for the QBs on the board, it’s illogical to draft one that high.
April 24th, 2014 at 9:59 am
Joe,
You are setting yourself up for a major letdown. Here are some suggestions that have helped others:
Morphine, Heroin, Qualludes, Cannabis, Valium, Pavulon, Cocaine, Oxycontin, Opium, Demerol, Chocolate, Mons Venus and…..Shaun’s favorite Krispy Krème!!!
April 24th, 2014 at 10:04 am
“Glazers can you say sell out? Merchandise sales? Excitement? Instant relevance.”
Ha… Eric, the problem is that the entire Tampa Bay area’s population aren’t named Eric or Joe.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:10 am
Caption under above pic should read:
“Nick, I have serious pulling ability. Your place or mine?”
April 24th, 2014 at 10:18 am
Where is the picture of Les Miles with the quote ” we kept you quiet again son”
April 24th, 2014 at 10:18 am
@ lightingbuc
Another caption: “Johnny, that’s not my hand you’re shaking”…
April 24th, 2014 at 10:18 am
Not….going…to….happen.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:22 am
ha ha. nice bucfan. Dont forget warren sapps favorite, Toradol….
April 24th, 2014 at 10:22 am
@Lightning
Nick’s telling him about a guy who makes his custom lift shoes. “Johnny, it’s the same guy who does them for Tom Cruise”.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:28 am
Awesome stuff.
Every time there’s a John Manziel photo we’ll turn it into a caption contest.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:39 am
“Johnny, it wasn’t Sandusky. The light Saban awaits you, come feel the force…”
April 24th, 2014 at 10:40 am
Joe, I really would like to see us grab JF too, but to say this is the only draft to get a franchise QB is silly. There is a draft next year too…lol. Plus lets not forget we won a SB with Brad Johnson! So very good, experienced QBs can come through FA too.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:43 am
Smokescreen. He’s not elite.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:12 am
“don’t give me no lies and keep your hands to yourself”
April 24th, 2014 at 11:19 am
Aaron Murray……best value in the draft at QB.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:21 am
Just so everyone knows, That the MGM club has petitioned The City of St. Pete to close I-275 on draft night, just so Joe can drive straight to the Skyway.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:38 am
To say Johnny Manziel would not bring instant excitement and instant relevance to our franchise, hasnt watched college football the last 2 years.If drafted the Glazers wouldnt have to worry about selling tickets this year, or any time in the future if Manziel is successful. Is Manziel a risk? Who isnt a risk in the draft? Grow a pair and roll the dice, we just might finally have a franchise QB to call our own!!!!
April 24th, 2014 at 11:42 am
Chuck D said it best, Don’t believe the hype.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:49 am
Joe has said many times that ticket sales are basically irrelevant anymore to NFL owners. So to think a player will be drafted for that purpose is off base.
Jacksonville would have signed Tebow a long time ago if ticket sales were a driving force behind acquiring a player.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:51 am
And with the 23rd pick of the 3rd round, the ———- Select Johnny Manziel
April 24th, 2014 at 11:53 am
PFT poll on what the Bucs should do with the 7th pick….66% don’t draft a QB at 7. Good to know 66% of people are still wise.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:55 am
Brett Smith.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Ticket sales may be irrelevant for revenue but you can’t tell me it’s not a disadvantage to have an excited hometown crowd than one half filled with opposing teams fans
April 24th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Joe,
I’ve came around. I always liked Manziel but just thought O-line would be our biggest priority.
I have come to believe the glaziers wants to sell tickets. Bringing lovie in, going on a free agency spending spree, changing of the uniforms.
You’ve said the Glaziers hate to be embarrassed. Multiple years of blackouts, has to be embarrassing. Hell it’s embarrassing as a fan.
I think the Bucs take Manziel, maybe even trade up for him. The Glaziers are all about positive vibes right now (see MWilliams). There going to ride the wave of excitement and add to it with Manziel. That’s at least my logic.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:05 pm
getaclue …I was just telling my wife the same thing regarding blackouts. A star potential franchise QB might help selling tickets, and lifting the blackouts.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
If the Bucs thought so highly of Glennon, they would not have paid McCown $10M
And McCown is obviously not the long term answer. If L&L feels there is a QB worthy at the 7th pick, there is no doubt they will take him. With L&L it will have nothing to do with ticket sales. It will simply be they believe he is a winner.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Harry nobody said anything about L&L and tickets sales. The Glazers are not as hands-off as you might think when it comes to this team and selling tickets.
Fins @ Bucs on Monday Night football last season. Glennon and the offense have the ball. It must feel like an away game, because the Fins fans outnumber the Bucs and are being extremely loud on the home teams offense.
It made me want to spit nails. It was a terrible experience and I don;t want to have to go through it anymore. I’m sure our team’s offense would like a just a little quiet while out on the field at home.
Yes that includes the Philly game too. It’s depressing, sickening and it needs to be stopped. Let’s hope Lovie fix’s this team.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Just because the Bucs don’t think highly of Glennon doesn’t mean they need to take a 3rd round talent at #7 of the first round.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
MG8 R.O.Y
April 24th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
^^^Any Buc fan that was there with me, knows what I’m talking about.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Some of these QB’s might drop like rocks in the first round. That would be crazy though with so many QB needy teams. Still I can see it happening. We’ve got what 2 weeks to go?
I think the Browns take Manziel. Sorry Joe.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
The Bucs should do everything they can to draft Johnny Football. If they pass on him it will be a mistake.
April 24th, 2014 at 12:33 pm
Def a smoke screen if I ever saw one.
Who wantsto bet that the Bucs do NOT draft Manziel?
April 24th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Okay here’s my mock at Mock Drafts. This is the way I see the draft going so far. Ha no one ever gets this shyte right, but here’s mine.
1. Texans – Clowney
2. Rams – trade down with ? or Sammy Watkins WR Clemson
3. Jags – Watkins if still available, if not they reach on Bridgewater.
4. Browns – Joe’s Johnny Football gets sent to purgatory.
5. Vikings – Blake Bortles – QB-UCF
6. Falcons – anything O-line or trade down.
7. Buccaneers – Mike Evans -WR Texas A&M. or trade down.
8. Raiders – Don’t know don’t care. Could trade down too.
9. Notice all the trade downs. It’s because it’s a deep draft and I see a lot of wheeling and dealing going on.
10. PRBucfan…yes with my crystal ball.
11. I don’t care about the rest, the Bucs already did what they had to do.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:00 pm
I’m not as informed as the rest of you on the going ons right now in all of football so I’m asking a naive question:
What would all the other teams ahead of us in the draft pass up on Manziel?
I want to jump on the bandwagon but I can’t get my hopes up on this one. Seriously, can someone tell me?
April 24th, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Trading up/down is a “it takes two to tango” situation. Yes I’m sure many teams would love to trade down and get more picks. But of course someone has to want to trade up to make it happen. I think come draft day there will be more teams wanting to trade down than up, which will of course drive down the cost to move up (and in the Bucs case, lessen what it will receive to move back).
I still very much believe Carolina is going to make a play to move up to get Evans or even Watkins. Obviously will be costly for them but their WR corps is embarassing for even the CFL. Then again after VJax it’s not like the Bucs can be chest out.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Harry You need to change your moniker, you are giving the real Harry’s a bad reputation.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
I don’t get the Mike Evans rumors.
If Calvin Johnson is the Bar. 6’5, 4.2 speed with great leaping ability and great hands and is a class act. Mike Evans lacks ideal speed, has suspect hands at times and has proven he is immature multiple times on the field.
You don’t use a top 10 pic on a WR unless you think he’s in the Calvin level or slightly above it. Evans is nowhere near Calvin and doesn’t have the attributes to even become anywhere near the same type of threat. He’s Plaxicco Burress, which is good but late 1st early 2nd good in his prime.
I would hate if we drafted Mike Evans.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Screw it, let’s trade up and grab JF. We will worry about how to use 3-4 picks later in. Draft is so deep. Oh, I know, trade up to get JF and then trade down all picks until we get to day 3. Then we can get all the best players….you know because the draft is so deep this year. SMFH!
April 24th, 2014 at 1:15 pm
I think its all a smoke screen – I would be surprised that the bucs are this obvious with their draft strategy. I think they want to trade down – unless a Watkins, Clowney etc…fall to them (don’t see it happening) if no trade partner than I think they look at one of the 0-tackles.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:20 pm
The consensus from those who have reported from the practices is JMac is very accurate. Our 4.3 guys are being put in positions to take advantage of their speed. Murphy and T Wright are ballin out. Draft week is going to be nuts!! I don’t know who is policing the ins and outs at One Buc.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
I am under the impression that Lovie is not laying awake at night with giddy anticipation of trotting Mike Glennon out as his starting QB.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:34 pm
Harry Says:
April 24th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
“If the Bucs thought so highly of Glennon, they would not have paid McCown $10M”
5 mill a year. Only rookie starters make less. Alex Smith signed with KC @ 3 years for 25mil to start. Whereas Kyle Orton is making $3.25m this year as a backup. Point being, McCown’s contract is not really that indicative so much of Glennon, so much as having a solid veteran QB in the fold.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:40 pm
OK, let’s see who doesn’t understand what a “smokescreen” is…
The_Buc_Realist
Architek
Buc Fan #237
Aaron
Daniel Jeremiah works for the NFL network, not the Bucs. Jeremiah has nothing to gain or lose by suggesting Manziel to the Bucs. If he scares a team into trading up to get Manziel ahead of the Bucs, what does Jeremiah gain?
A smokescreen would be if the Bucs said something, not some non-affiliated media member. Smokescreen: something that you do or say to hide something or to take attention away from something. Key phrase: Something YOU do or say… not some 3rd party. Unless you think the Bucs hired Jeremiah to say these things to really enhance their smokescreen effect?
Trivia for the day: The term smokescreen came from military (primarily ships) using smoke to hide their location from their enemy.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:46 pm
Trade down draft beckham JR 2nd round get garrapolo and martavis bryant
April 24th, 2014 at 1:48 pm
Eric Says:
April 24th, 2014 at 1:30 pm
I am under the impression that Lovie is not laying awake at night with giddy anticipation of trotting Mike Glennon out as his starting QB.
____________________________________________________
Why? He spent a 6 years with Grossman, Orton and Campbell as his QB. Lovie doesn’t lie awake at night thinking of anything but defense.
April 24th, 2014 at 1:51 pm
In the same article, Jeremiah says:
“Tampa should have a lot of options with the seventh overall pick; given the right scenario, I could see them trading down to garner more picks.”
April 24th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
Add Ed Werder of ESPN to the list of paid 3rd party media members to set off smokescreens on the Bucs behalf. According to PFT, he reported the same “don’t be surprised if the Bucs take Manziel at #7” smokescreen. Even PFT thinks it’s a Bucs smokescreen. Now, if Werder or Jeremiah said they have information from inside OBP, that may be different. But this is simply them hearing the Bucs like Manziel and translating that to “don’t be surprised if”.
April 24th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
@BamBam
His exact quote from his twitter:
“Bucs would seriously consider Johnny Manziel if on the board at 7th pick. Team sees him as very unique, good arm and accuracy, great athlete”
So, that sounds like someone at OBP is giving him info, no?
April 24th, 2014 at 2:28 pm
@BamBamBuc
I know what a smokescreen is A$$hole – bringing in every QB known to man – report after report that Lovie and the bucs are in love with X QB. (They just happen to be the top rated QBs)
My bad for not 100% commenting to the specifics of this article. We’ve been reading and commenting on reports for over a month about this topic. My response was to the overall draft strategy – Their actions + need have many speculating QB or WR with our 7th pick. I say its a smokescreen – the bucs want to get teams drafting below them to trade above them to draft a QB. This allows other non-QB players to fall to the 7th pick.
(Example: Vikings trade with Rams to draft a QB the Rams would fall behind the bucs in draft order allowing another non-QB to fall)
April 24th, 2014 at 2:36 pm
Lovie has coached with and against his mentor Tony Dungy and even against, Jim Caldwell who got lucky to land in Indy, Caldwell was flipping a garbage HC in college, however the one thing that made him a genious was Peyton Manning, add that up along with Dungy getting his ring with Peyton and don’t think that Lovie doesn’t think if he had a quality QB he might have a ring as well. I am not sure where that leaves Manziel, but I am guessing Lovie and Licht are gonna be all in for a QB and probably johnny football. Lovie coached the defense with a pretty good QB in Kurt Warner in STL too. JF is equal to or better than russel wilson at this stage of their carreers in quarterback ability, so why not get manziel build a strong coached up defense and draft a stud WR in round 2, OL in later rounds then roll the dice
April 24th, 2014 at 2:44 pm
duthty rhothdes Says:
April 24th, 2014 at 2:36 pm
JF is equal to or better than russel wilson at this stage of their carreers in quarterback ability, so why not get manziel build a strong coached up defense and draft a stud WR in round 2, OL in later rounds then roll the dice
_________________________________________________________
Jesus people, hyperbole is not your friend.
Manziel National Titles = 0
Wilson SUPER BOWL Titles = 1
It’s beyond idiocy to suggest Manziel is ahead of Wilson at anything except most autographs signed in college.
April 24th, 2014 at 2:53 pm
Smokescreen….What the hell does a Transformer have to do with football?
April 24th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Tell me what Wilson has done as a QB in the NFL statswise? Wilson and his seahawks should have been beat down handily this year by the Glennon mob, but schiano is a clown….. Fkn Trent Dilfer won a superbowl. So don’t throw that superbowl stat out there like its some hall of fame credential, Dan Marino didnt win a superbowl he is better than russel wilson. Dilfer and Wilson each played with one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, JOhnny Manziel will be everything and more than russel wilson is
April 24th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
Only 1 QB has more TDs in his first two years as QB than Russell Wilson: Peyton Manning. Johnny Manizel has exactly 0 NFL passes.
Discussion over.
April 24th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
“duthty rhothdes Says:
April 24th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Tell me what Wilson has done as a QB in the NFL statswise?”
Better yet, what has Manziel done as a QB in the NFL, whatsoever? At least Wilson and Marino have actually played in the NFL. Manziel has yet to even complete a pass and you are already placing him over guys who have actually succeeded in the league.
April 24th, 2014 at 4:08 pm
If I can remember correctly tampa bay was very interested in a qb who wasn’t top ranked about a month ago. I can’t remember who it was but there wasn’t anymore articles regarding that qb. So i think the manziel circus is a smokescreen. I hope that we draft jimmy garoppollo in the 3rd
April 24th, 2014 at 5:45 pm
@duthty rhothdes
Hit him with the Atomic Elbow, baby!!!
April 24th, 2014 at 9:02 pm
Draft week will be awesome!! Great coverage this week!!
April 26th, 2014 at 2:30 pm
Notice how the Bucs aren’t mentioning Carr? Could it be that they trade back and pick him up later in the first?
May 1st, 2014 at 12:37 pm
Smoke screen…
Connor Shaw is coming to Tampa.