On Tuesday, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that the Browns will not take Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel with the fourth pick in the draft.
If a report on Wednesday from John McClain of the Houston Chronicle is correct, they won’t even have to make a decision about passing on the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner. McClain reports that “word’s spreading” around media in New York for the draft that the Jaguars will select Manziel with the third pick.
The Jaguars certainly have a need at quarterback, but the popular opinion about their draft plans has been that they were going to opt for a safer pick in the first round before addressing the position later in the process. As always, though, appearances can be deceiving and the Jaguars may well have zeroed in on Manziel as the man to lead their offense into the future.
Those deceiving appearances may also be designed to prompt a move by another team hoping to land Manziel into the second slot that the Rams have been dangling in order to help the Jaguars get the guy they really want with the third selection. We also can’t rule out a conflicting report coming down the pike later on Wednesday, but we’re confident that Manziel’s landing spot is going to continue to be one of the top stories of the 2014 draft.