The NFL draft 2014 started on Thursday with the first round and Johnny Manziel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the number 22 pick and that came after a wild top 10 that saw the Houston Texans draft Jadeveon Clowney and the Browns traded multiple times before moving up with the Philadelphia Eagles
The draft had some surprises, but things mostly played out as expected during the first half of the picks, with the St. Louis Rams following Clowney with offensive lineman Greg Robinson from Auburn and that was a safe pick and that was followed up with the Jaguars taking Blake Bortles from UCF. The pick was expected after the Rams passed on Bortles, as he was considered to have the best size of the players at his position and now he will be the franchise QB for Jacksonville. The top three picks played out as expected and the fourth pick saw Sammy Watkins get picked by the Buffalo Bills after they traded up with the Cleveland Browns.
Manziel ended up going 22 to the Browns after the team traded with the Eagles and he comes in after passing for 4,114 yards and 37 touchdowns while rushing for 759 yards with Texas A&M and now the Browns have Manziel and cornerback Justin Gilbert in the fold after the first round. The Oakland Raiders sat and let the draft come to them and they ended up with Khalil Mack, who many thought would go number one or number two and that adds value to the defense and helps replace the loss of Lamar Houston.
The Atlanta Falcons picked Jake Matthews with the sixth overall pick in the draft to beef up their offensive line, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked Mike Evans at number seven overall, making him the second wideout off the board. The Cleveland Browns had a busy first round and many thought they traded up to get Johnny Manziel at number eight with the Minnesota Vikings, but instead the team went after Gilbert and Manziel ended up sliding to them at 22.
The Vikings went with Anthony Barr, while the Detroit Lions took Eric Ebron before the Titans selected Taylor Lewan. The NY Giants took Odell Beckham Jr. as a potential replacement for Hakeem Nicks and that should give Eli Manning much more to work with, while Aaron Donald and Kyle Fuller went next.
