I'd watch it just for Gus Johnson's announcing alone. Best college football announcer in the business.

Should be a great, entertaining matchup as well. I'm rooting for Oklahoma just because A&M and Oregon are typically in a lot of recruiting battles so its better for my team if they lose. But I expect A&M to win. Oklahoma's D sucks.

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Impressive first drive by A&M. I think we're looking at the second coming of Russell Wilson in Manziel. He was outstanding on that score.

I think he's a lot more Robert Griffin 3 then Russell Wilson. Either way he's fun to watch and a great QB.

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This game could be like Washington vs Baylor last year. Although probably not THAT extreme.

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Nah. In terms of athleticism/arm/tools I'd say it's Griffin > Wilson > Manziel. Physically he reminds me of Doug Flutie, even though he's allegedly 6'1". More of a hustle player than a freak. I'm sure he'll run a good forty time (probably 4.5ish) but he doesn't blow you away with his speed. Like Wilson, he combines speed with intelligence to maximize his gifts. Manziel's strength is his off the charts intangibles, leadership, and intelligence, similar to Wilson. The ULTIMATE "tilt the field" QB.

And let's be honest, if Griffin was an average athlete he probably isn't in the NFL right now. Not to diminish how great he is, but he really does rely on his amazing physical gifts and that's really shown itself in recent weeks when he's been at less than 100% physically. Jake Locker is a similar story, take away his ability to be special athletically and he really suffers. Neither Wilson or Manziel are guys who live or die based on their athleticism. Both are guys who scramble as a last resort, and can make plays in pretty much any situation.

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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

The reason i say more Griffin is because at this point i think those 2 rely more on their athletecism and their athletic abilities to make them great QBs then on their classic QB skills. If they lost their athletecism i'm not sure either would be any good.

Wilson on the other hand is a great athlete but I think he's more intellect and classic QB skill then athlete. Even if he lost his legs I still think he'd find a way to be successful.

Also the hype factor, and the leadership style for Manziel is much more Griffin then Wilson, imo. Griffin and Manziel are much more vocal, frenetic and in your face. Wilson leads thru quiet confidence, a few well placed motivating words, and his own effort and dedication. (perfect example on that run, he gets up woofing at the defense. you would NEVER see Wilson doing that).

Although I can see some of both Wilson and Griffin in his game.

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The bookend tackles have impressed me a lot more than Manziel. They've been brick walls. I'm already coveting them.

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Tall men come down to my height when I hit 'em in the body.

Jack Dempsey

Agreed on hype factor, but disagree on athleticism. Manziel would probably be sacked a lot more and have fewer rushing yards if he was an average runner, but he is a tremendous decision maker and improvisor that really helps make up for some of his problems (not the greatest arm). Mobility obviously helps him, but it hardly defines him like it does for RG3 who is so special athletically. I guarantee you that Manziel will not outperform Wilson at his future NFL combine. Wilson is a more natural athlete with a much better arm. So if he's less than Wilson, I can't agree with any comparisons to RG3 athletically, since RG3 is significantly more athletic than Wilson is.

Disagree 110% on the leadership comment. Manziel is seriously the best leader I have ever seen. Greater than Tebow. Better even than Wilson. WAAAAAAY better than RG3, who is the quiet lead by example type.

I think that's part of what makes Manziel so beloved- it's his "heroic" traits. A guy like him by all rights should not be this good. He's six foot nothing and looks like he'd be lying if he said he was 200 pounds. He has an average at best arm and really his only good tool is his speed, which is probably no better than Mariota's, maybe less. What he's done at A&M is really just out of pure determination and smarts. The speed helps, but it goes way beyond that.

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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

To be clear i'm not saying he's not a good leader. all 3 of them are AMAZING leaders. I edited my previous post after you read it apparently to explain better what i meant.

Also the hype factor, and the leadership style for Manziel is much more Griffin then Wilson, imo. Griffin and Manziel are much more vocal, frenetic and in your face. Wilson leads thru quiet confidence, a few well placed motivating words, and his own effort and dedication. (perfect example on that run, he gets up woofing at the defense. you would NEVER see Wilson doing that).

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You might want to wait 5 mins before responding. I post edits and changes after a post usually.

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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

Vocal but it different ways, imo.

We'll just agree that all 3 are great QB's in their respective ways and great leaders in their respective styles.

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Wilson is far more vocal than Griffin, IMO. Wilson is a coach on the field. Griffin leads with charisma and a track record of excellence. Both Wilson and Griffin give pep talks on the sidelines, but only Tim Tebow at Florida matches Manziel's ability to pump up his teammates in between series. Snohomie once compared Tebow's fiery leadership to Ray Lewis, and I see a lot of that same fiery style in Manziel. That's something that neither RG3 or Wilson have, although I think Wilson is a much better leader than RG3 is. RG3 is a good leader. Wilson is practically a demigod. And Manziel is on an even higher leadership tier than Wilson (IMO).

Funny enough, some of the greatest leaders in world history were short (Alexander the Great, Napoleon, etc). I wonder if there is something to that.

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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

Meanwhile... Landry Jones is still way overrated.

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First time I've seen plays sent in with 2 foot wide multi-colored cards as OU is doing. Always thought they had the wireless helmets in college.

Oregon uses the same system as do a few other teams that run fast pace offenses. I'm not 100% sure how it works but I believe that the cards give the formation and personnel to every one on the offense but that the play call still goes to the QB via radio.

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They're both amazing.

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BTW J, a couple points I should mention that you deserve credit for:

1st, you were very right about A&M's line. Their improvement between last year with Tannehill and this year with Manziel is remarkable. Just like how Wilson made our line look better, I think Manziel is probably part of the equation here, but not all of it. Both tackles deserve all the hype they are getting.

2nd, I stand by my comments regarding Manziel/Wilson/RG3. However, watching this game after our discussion, I at least understand where you are coming from. Wilson, as far as I know, never ran read option in college. He was essentially a pro-style QB. Manziel is very obviously a pure read option guy, and his ability to perform on QB keepers and his penchant for screen passes is indeed very similar to RG3. So schematically, I totally understand why you made the connection there.

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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

So you're saying i'm right. BOOOYA!!!!


This offense is a lot of fun to watch. Just imagine if they had a big time RB to team with Manziel back there. It would be unbelievable.

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Manziel is f'n scary good.

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Seahawks vs. TBD - Super Bowl 48 - February 2, 2014

I think Joeckel probably goes #1 at this point

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Seahawks vs. TBD - Super Bowl 48 - February 2, 2014