And the Heisman goes to...

[JSeahawks]

Manziel vs Mariota

First of all let me make it very clear that i'm not saying Mariota should have won the Heisman, i wouldnt have even put him in my top 5 if I had a vote. I'm just saying that he's a better QB.

Manziel had 88 more pass attempts then Mariota. But Mariota had 6 more TD's (30 to 24). Mariota had a 5:1 Td/Int ratio while Manziel's was 3:1. Mariota had a slightly higher completion percentage while Manziel had a slightly higher average yards per completion. Mariota's QB rating was 10 points higher.

Manziel had 96 more rushing attempts then Mariota. But Mariota averaged 7.04 on his rush attempts while Manziel averaged 6.46. Manziel did have a huge advantage in rushing Tds: 19 to 4.

I would argue that Manziel had a much better offensive line and slightly better receiving core. Mariota had the advantage of a much better running game (which is why he had so many fewer rushing tds) and better overall offensive system.

It seems clear to me that the only reason Manziel had better numbers is because he had greatly more opportunity.
Mariota was the victim of his own success. He, and his teammates were so good in the first half of games that he didnt get the chance to build up stats in the 2nd halves on many occasions.

I would also argue that Mariota makes his teammates better by sticking with the play and trusting the play and only takes off as a last option, rather then Manziel who takes off at the first sign of trouble and does the rest on his own. Mariota is Russell Wilson, Manziel is a young Michael Vick. Both great and dynamic players but which would you rather have running your team?

One final stat. Against top 25 opponents Mariota threw for 12 td's and 3 interceptions with a record of 4-1. Against top 25 opponents Manziel had 5 td's and 4 int's with a 2-2 record.

And a question for Kearly, every time you talk about Mariota you mention questionable decision making, can you point to an example? (not arguiing, just trying to have a friendly debate and trying to understand).

p.s. I promise this will be my last Mariota post until next season, cuz i'm even annoying myself with them.

J don't make me do it. I keep thinking of that song by James Ingram...I don't have the heart to hurt you, its the last thing I want to do. I did some research before you brought this up but I'll just give you the short version without the stats and just off memory. Look at who Manziel has as a supporting cast, look at the defenses in the SEC (If my memory serves the majority in the Pac-12 give up over 100/150 plus more yards), look at how Mariota did against top defenses (Stanford), and don't make light of Manziels rushing TD's (he destroys Mariota and the rushing yards per attempt is negligible since once you cross the TD plain they stop counting rushing yards) . I'll give you 2 more that are objectionable but I believe to be true. Oregon plays late at night out here sometimes and they didn't have many sexy games due to being so much better than their opponents. The other is that I think the prevailing opinion is that Oregon is loaded with talent on offense and they run a gimmick offense (Basically Mariota isn't doing anything amazing he is just doing what Oregon QB's do). I believe they do have great talent on offense but I don't think its a gimmick offense myself; I think its a revolutionary offense like the west coast offense was in the 80's. But thats just the general opinion I see on this coast. I like Mariota and I studied him and his Hawaiian roots. I do like him and he may just win a Heisman.

I have to ask though, does it bother you that Manziel de-committed from Oregon?

Don't A&M and Oregon pretty much run the same offense? Or at least pretty much the same principals? I agree they're not gimmicks. A gimmick implies that the defense can stop it once they've seen it a time or two, and that has proven to not happen.

The only reason it bothers me that manziel decommited is that he would make a pretty nice backup QB.

They both ended up in the right spots. Mariota is exactly what Chip wants in a QB, and Manziel obviously found a really good fit in Sumlin's offense. I think it worked out great for both. I, and every Duck fan I know, would not trade them for each other, and i'm sure A&M fans would say the same thing.

 

[SEC FAN]

Its tempo J. A&M huddles and they don't run a play every 10-15 seconds. They do run spread. I like the Manziel backup comment, thats good and you could very well be right. They definitely ended up in the right places. I'm not a big Heisman guy anyway. Whoever wins never bothers me. It isn't the best player in college football, its the best player on a great team. And defensive players need not apply. Remember when Cortez was the defensive player of the year? Yeah he wouldn't even be considered on a 2-14 team yet he was the most dominant player in the NFL that year.

 

[seahawk2k]

I was under the impression Oregon wanted Manziel to play safety, hence his decommitting. Could be wrong.

Mariota isn't Manziel. Mariota folded in their biggest game of the year against Stanford, Manziel beat the best team in the country in their house pretty much singlehandedly.

 

[sturg78]

What about the two games he lost, where those not important? Mariota stepped up big in a game as well:usc

 

[SEC FAN]

What about the two games he lost, where those not important? Mariota stepped up big in a game as well:usc

USC isn't even ranked in any poll. They aren't top 35 even. Thats like saying Manziel stepped up against Mississippi State. Mississippi State is about the same level as USC.

 

[seahawk2k]

Sad, but true.

 

[kearly]

It's really hard to make a statistical comparison among two college QBs. That said, I think that if they switched schools, I don't think Mariota would be doing much at A&M, and Manziel would probably have slightly lower statistics at Oregon (their system might have a little too much structure for him), although I do think that Oregon with Manziel is undefeated right now. I think Oregon with 4 years of Manziel could threaten Tebow's college legend.

As far as the questionable decision making, I'm referring to his tendency to force throws. He has a really nice arm, but he'd get killed for that in the NFL. He'd probably get killed for it in the SEC even.

 

[JSeahawks]

I promised myself i wasnt going to make any more posts about mariota. But man, i think some of you guys are just swallowing up the ESPN hype hook, line and sinker. Killing Mariota for having a bad game against Stanford (which he definatly did) but not even mentioning Manziel's far worse game against LSU. Kearly, I think youre one of the smartest guys on this board but I think yo'ure insane when it comes to evaluating Oregon QB's (i know you like Mariota, but that statement "Mariota wouldnt do anything at A&M" got me a little hot, haha). And its not like A&M is some rinky dink little team with no talent, Manziel has quite possibly the 2nd best o'line in the country behind Alabama. Some of you are making it seem like Manziel is leading St. Mary's for the Blind to wins or something. Get mariota behind that line to throw the ball 35 times a game like Manziel does and he'd be putting up insane numbers.

Whatever though, its splitting hairs either way, they're both already great college QB's as freshman. It will be fun to see what they do in the years to come.

 

[kearly]

I don't share your glowing review for A&M's line. It was pretty much an average unit when I scouted Tannehill last year, and the few A&M games I've seen this year it didn't stand out to me. It really makes no difference anyway- Manziel is a scrambler. Like Wilson, there will be plays in every game where shoddy protection can actually benefit him. I think with A&M it's an obvious case of the QB making the line look better just like Wilson does for Seattle. My vote for 2nd best line would be Stanford anyway.

I like Mariota a lot more than Darron Thomas, and I'm not ashamed to say that I think Thomas got a raw deal from evaluators. I think I gave Thomas a 4th round grade. Mariota right now is somewhere between a 2nd and a 3rd. He's extremely similar to Colin Kaepernick. I realize that's a comp I throw out a lot, because there are a lot of Kaepernick types in college, but Mariota fits him more than most, especially given how both are home run hitters as runners. And Mariota is less silly looking than Kaepernick is when he's running 70 yards to the house.

Texas A&M was not a great program before Manziel, save for a brief stretch when Ryan Tannehill debuted at the end of 2010. And guess why that was? It was because Tannehill is a great improvising QB and was playing hot at the time. Manziel is on a level by himself as an improvisational QB in the current college landscape. He's up there with Russell Wilson, Steve Young, and Fran Tarkenton in terms of his ability to improvise and make things happen. Granted, Manziel probably has the weakest arm, the slightest frame, and the wimpiest looking running style of the three, but he's a master improvisor, and those kinds of players can do magical things to an otherwise unremarkable offense.

The value that Manziel has to his offense is several magnitudes greater than what Mariota has to his, where Oregon has pretty much continuously plugged in athletes and produced results. A&M is not some great Juggernaut. They would vanish into obscurity without Manziel.

Really my only agreement with you on A&M is this: I like their WRs. Ryan Swope in particular is a player I'd love to get in the mid rounds.

 

[SEC FAN]

I promised myself i wasnt going to make any more posts about mariota. But man, i think some of you guys are just swallowing up the ESPN hype hook, line and sinker. Killing Mariota for having a bad game against Stanford (which he definatly did) but not even mentioning Manziel's far worse game against LSU. Kearly, I think youre one of the smartest guys on this board but I think yo'ure insane when it comes to evaluating Oregon QB's (i know you like Mariota, but that statement "Mariota wouldnt do anything at A&M" got me a little hot, haha). And its not like A&M is some rinky dink little team with no talent, Manziel has quite possibly the 2nd best o'line in the country behind Alabama. Some of you are making it seem like Manziel is leading St. Mary's for the Blind to wins or something. Get mariota behind that line to throw the ball 35 times a game like Manziel does and he'd be putting up insane numbers.

Whatever though, its splitting hairs either way, they're both already great college QB's as freshman. It will be fun to see what they do in the years to come.

Yeah I don't know about the 2nd best O-Line comment. In fact I completely disagree. Alabama, LSU and Georgia had better for sure and thats just in the SEC. Aaron Murray had a way better pass pro, and Gurley the freshman ran for serious yardage at Georgia. LSU just had it, I can't prove it so much but I saw it. And Alabama has the best line in the country.

 

[JSeahawks]

Alright, alright.

I'm gonna give up and go play with my Mariota dress up doll now.

Too bad the Ducks shit the bed against Stanford. Would have liked to see them play Alabama so we could have a legit comparison. Although I guess in that case it would have been UO vs ND, so we still wouldnt have seen it.

 

[DTexHawk]

Can't hold Marquise Lee's jock as a football player.

But hey, at least he's thanking The 12th man.

If A&M was still in the Big 12 rather then the SEC I dont think Manziel would have even been invited to the ceremony. And in case you cant tell... yes, i'm a little bit bitter about him winning (even though i've known since the Alabama game that he would.)

IF they were still in the Big 12, they may have gone undefeated and might be playing in the National Championship game.

 

[DTexHawk]

Top Ten:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/late_show/video/2314448232/david-letterman-johnny-manziel-top-ten