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.

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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.

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.

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.

Sad, but true.

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.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

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.

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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.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

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.

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.

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

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That's weak sauce!

Top Ten:

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

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That's weak sauce!