Despite the NFL passing a rule today that will slap a 15-yard penalty on any player who dunks the football over the goal posts, the biggest day of the week in the NFL is yet to come.
Texas A&M will have a packed house when media from all over the country arrive to watch quarterback Johnny Manziel perform at the Aggies’ pro-day workout. The Vikings, presumably led by head coach Mike Zimmer, offensive coordinator Norv Turner and general manager Rick Spielman, will be attending.
Zimmer has already reached out to legendary Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton for an opinion on Manziel, who is often compared to Tarkenton because of his size and ability to make plays on the run.
“I did talk to Fran, and we talked a lot about (Manziel) because of the height with Manziel and the scrambling ability and things like that,’’ Zimmer said Tuesday in an interview with ESPN, via the Pioneer Press. “Just (got) some of his insights for playing the game so long. …. He said a lot of good things about Manziel.’’
Tarkenton has said for months that Manziel reminds him of himself.
Will the Vikings take Manziel if he’s available in the first round?
“It’s still going to come down to how we feel about how he’s going to be in the locker room, what kind of person he’s going to be, what kind of leader, and then go from there,’’ Zimmer said.
Manziel has been considered top 10 pick in nearly every mock draft for months. CBS Sports released a new, two-round mock draft today and Manziel is going fourth overall to the Browns. The same mock has Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater going to the Vikings at No. 8.
Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated released a fresh mock draft today as well and he has Manziel going to the Vikings with the eighth pick. He writes that “Manziel running an offense that features Adrian Peterson and Cordarrelle Patterson would be hugely problematic for defenses as they game planned.”
NFL Network will be televising 90 minutes of Manziel’s pro-day workout beginning at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
Oh, by the way… about that dunking over the goal posts penalty. Manziel, as he shows on his Instagram account, is a candidate for the 15-yard flag.
https://www.instagram.com/p/l7fgD6o3DJ
