Johnny Manziel made his AAF debut Sunday night for the Memphis Express, sparking the offense a bit while showing he’s still a flawed professional quarterback.
The big picture: His first AAF game was a microcosm of everything Manziel brings to the table. Manziel is nothing if not an electric personality and exciting football player, yet his game has glaring holes.
AAF debut: Here’s what he did in limited action Sunday night against the Birmingham Iron.
- 3-of-5 passing for 48 yards
- Two rushes for 20 yards
- He took one sack, and had one wiped off the board due to a defensive penalty
The good: Manziel can make things happen with his legs, and he certainly isn’t afraid to take shots downfield.
- Manziel’s first offensive play of Sunday night’s game was a dart to the right side that gained him 13 yards on the ground.
- Later on that same drive, Manziel threw a nice deep pass to Alton Howard that went for 36 yards (watch here).
- The Memphis crowd was thrilled when he entered the game and chanted his name. Then his play on that first drive injected much-needed life into the Express.
The bad: Manziel is still not an accurate passer overall and looks to escape the pocket even when he doesn’t need to.
- Aside from the one deep pass in the second quarter, Manziel’s other two completions were dump-offs, one of which gained 13 yards while the other resulted in negative yardage.
- While one of his deep passes was nice, the other two shots he took downfield were inaccurate, and one was nearly picked off as he threw into double coverage.
The ugly: Johnny Football showed he’s not a cool, calm and collected leader.
- Manziel was sacked in the third quarter. The defender flashed the infamous “money” sign at Manziel to taunt him, after which Manziel barked back at him with some unnecessary trash talk.
- One play later, he had to be separated after continuing to go after the player that taunted him.
The bottom line: As we’ve delved into recently, Manziel isn’t a polished professional quarterback. He’s a guy who brings plenty of energy, but not a lot of real substance, to the gridiron.
It was no surprise that Mike Singletary rolled with Brandon Silvers for most of the second half.
Granted, Manziel hasn’t been with the Express long at all and potentially could be more effective with more practice.
Yet his play at every level since leaving college — the NFL, Spring League, CFL, and now the AAF — shows that Manziel’s game is just not all that hot.