Johnny Manziel - First 4 Games of 2015

Intermediate Passes (10-20 yards)

In my opinion this is the area Manziel needs to work on most, drives are continued with passes in this area and Manziel needs to work on his accuracy and footwork on these types of throws.

Situation: 2nd & 5. 5. 3:37 3rd.

Offensive Personnel: 12 Personnel

Opponent: New York Jets

Coverage: Cover 1

Manziel displays good awareness and ability to extend the play but he throws a poor pass at the finish of the play. The original read of the crossing route is taken away and Manziel does a good job of seeing the opposite field Safety dropping into his zone. Manziel then avoids the blitz and his WR does a good job of getting open for him. It seems he has an easy throw over top of the LB in coverage, but Manziel leads him too far and the WR can’t make the catch. The result of the drive is a FG, but it needs to be a TD.

Situation: 1st & 10. -20. 10:38 4th.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: New York Jets

Coverage: Cover 1

This is a beautiful play on Manziel’s part, he recognizes the 1-on-1 coverage to his left hand side before the snap, and as the ball is snapped he sees the blitz coming from the LB’s. Manziel takes his drop and steps into his throw, making a nice throw with little room for error with the CB trailing the WR.

Situation: 1st & 10. 40. 8:33 1st.

Offensive Personnel: 12 Personnel

Opponent: Tennessee Titans

Coverage: Cover 3

Johnny Manziel doing what Johnny Manziel does best on this play. Manziel stays in the pocket long enough before the edge of the Titans defense collapses and then rolls to his right. The WR to the outside runs an out route but once Manziel breaks the pocket he takes off up field before getting open. Manziel delivers a nice pass to his WR for a gain of 18 yards.

Situation: 2nd & 9. 9. 0:23 1st.

Offensive Personnel: 02 Personnel

Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

Coverage: Coverage 1

Manziel does the right thing to leave the pocket when it breaks down because no one is open. Once he breaks the pocket, his WR in the endzone rolls with him in the back of the endzone. Rolling to his left definitely makes it a tougher throw for a right handed QB, but Manziel still makes a nice throw and hits his WR in the hands but he is unable to reel in the catch.

Situation: 3rd & 5. 12. 0:27 2nd.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

Coverage: Cover 1

Manziel once again makes a nice play with his feet here. The Browns run a 4 verticals concept with the RB running underneath. The pocket collapses with pressure from Manziel’s right but he is able to escape to his right side. Manziel is able to throw a strike to his RB, a little behind, but enough power behind it to get to his target before the defenders. The result of the play is a TD.

Situation: 1st & 10. -20. 13:36 4th.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

Coverage: Cover 1

On this play, Manziel shows courage in the pocket to deliver the ball as he gets hit but the throw is risky. Manziel tries to squeeze it in over top of a LB and in front of a CB. Although Manziel makes a good throw, this is a throw he probably shouldn’t attempt. Manziel could look to his left and deliver the ball to the slant. But then again all of this is happening in a millisecond so in hindsight it all looks easier.

Situation: 3rd & 10. -24. 7:29 4th.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

Coverage: Cover 1

The Browns once again run a 4 verticals concept, with the TE breaking off his route. I am not a fan of this throw because I think Manziel is just trying to let his WR make a play but the CB has great coverage. The ball could have been easily intercepted as Manziel tries to throw it to his WR’s back shoulder.

Situation: 3rd & 14. -37. 1:28 1st.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage: Cover 3

This is one of the better throws you will see from Manziel this season. A 5-step drop, Manziel takes his drop and throws the ball on time and accurately to his WR coming out of his break. Had this throw not been on time it would have allowed the underneath defender to possibly move into position to defend the pass. If Manziel can continue making throws like this he will be successful.

Situation: 1st & 10. 46. 1:04 1st.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage: Cover 3

Manziel has been pretty successful on bootlegs thus far, this is not an example of that. While Manziel rolls right, the defense rolls with him. Manziel spots his target dragging across with him but he is unable to hit him on the run. Although his WR does not help him much by stopping on his route for some reason.

Situation: 2nd & 6. -46. 6:47 3rd.

Offensive Personnel: 01 Personnel

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage: Cover 3

Another nice throw on a timing route from Manziel here, and I have definitely seen an improvement in this area from his 1st start to his most recent. He throws this one a little late but displays good arm strength to fit this ball into a tight window. The WR breaks his route down in front of 3 defenders and Manziel puts the ball right on his chest for a gain of 16 yards.

Situation: 2nd & 6. 7. 12:33 4th.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage: Cover 0

With the pre-snap read of Cover 0, Manziel knows that he has his TE in 1-on-1 coverage with a smaller CB. Theses are the types of plays that you throw the ball up and let your target make a play. The TE does a nice job of beating the jam off the line and he lofts the ball up to him nicely where he can run under it for the TD. Nice touch displayed by Manziel on this play.

Situation: 1st & 10. -43. 8:12 4th.

Offensive Personnel: 11 Personnel

Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage: Cover 3

An impressive throw here from Manziel, displaying touch and accuracy to loft it over the defenders. The Browns once again run a 4 vertical concept and with the Nickelback jamming the slot WR and letting him go, he sees a small window to fit the ball into and is able to get it to the WR before he gets to the Safety. The result is a gain of 20.

View Manziel’s Long throws on Page 3