ESPN loves to embrace debate, and now they’ve got two of their most prominent football analysts engaged in a public debate over the most-discussed prospect in this year’s NFL draft.
A day after Ron Jaworski made news by saying he wouldn’t draft Johnny Manziel in the first three rounds, ESPN announced that it is bringing back its much-discussed Jon Gruden QB Camp feature. Unsurprisingly, the first quarterback to participate is Manziel, the former Texas A&M Heisman Trophy winner. And Gruden liked what he saw when the two of them sat down.
“In the right system, with the right support, I really think he can be a success,” Gruden said.
Portions of Gruden’s conversation with Manziel will air on SportsCenter today at 6 p.m. Eastern. That will lead to a new round of debate about how Manziel comes across, whether he carries himself like a professional quarterback, and so on. And ESPN will eat the attention up.
Of course, you can point out that by writing about Gruden’s QB Camp, I’m helping to give ESPN exactly the kind of attention it wants for its contrived quarterback debates. But it should also be pointed out that Gruden’s QB Camp is a well-done feature that really does provide solid insight into the quarterbacks who will be available in the upcoming draft. And Gruden’s conversation with Manziel will surely be worth watching.