The NFL Draft is coming up and that means mock projections and predictions have continued to get released and Mel Kiper is of course at the forefront as the combine goes on and he has updated his top 10 picks and while Johnny Manziel remains as his number one to the Texans, he has changed a few after that and the picks for the Oakland Raiders, Jaguars and Vikings could be very interesting.
Kiper has Manziel as the number one pick in his mock draft and for now he is sticking to that, as he thinks the Houston Texans could benefit greatly from him at quarterback, especially after his time playing for the Aggies within the state. Kiper feels that his skills are there to be a successful quarterback and that combined with the marketing and fanfare, it is a smart move for a franchise that just lost 14 games in a row and clearly is in need of a reset. Matt Schaub was terrible last season and he is not the answer anymore and that could lead to the team taking a quarterback and Kiper feels that Manziel should be the pick.
The quarterback class in this draft is very solid and deep and in the top 10 picks there could be up to four QBs taken, although it's more likely that it will be three. The Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings all could conceivably be looking at a QB and that puts even more pressure on the early picks, as teams that pass up the QBs there surely won't get any of the top players later in the draft. There are names out there like AJ McCarron, Derek Carr, Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray that could be taken later, but the names at the top are the hot ones coming into the combine.
Manziel would be interesting in Houston with Arian Foster and Andre Johnson, but Bill O'Brien spent years working with Tom Brady and he may be more interested in a traditional quarterback over Manziel and that means Bridgewater could go number one or they could look at Jadeveon Clowney instead. Last year Clowney would have been the number one pick hand down, after a so-so year he could slip, but whatever team gets him will be getting a physical freak of nature.
Manziel is into the draft after passing for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns last season and while he was measured at less than six feet at the combine, he feels that being short is not an issue, citing the success of Russell Wilson, who of course won the Super Bowl with the Seahawks this season. The draft is still months away and even with the combine coming now, pro day workouts and interviews could change things and teams like the Raiders and Browns will be looking at quarterbacks closely, especially names like Bridgewater a Bortles and if Manziel gets past the top few picks, expect teams to think about trading up to get him.
Houston Texans: Johnny Manziel
St. Louis Rams: Greg Robinson
Jacksonville Jaguars: Jadeveon Clowney
Cleveland Browns: Teddy Bridgewater
Oakland Raiders: Sammy Watkins
Atlanta Falcons: Anthony Barr
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Khalil Mack
Minnesota Vikings: Blake Bortles
Buffalo Bills: Jake Matthews
Detroit Lions: Justin Gilbert