Johnny Manziel, Chip Kelly a ‘Perfect’ Match?

Michael Vick has thrown four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Eagles’ first two games. He’s completing over 62 percent of his attempts and averaging a league-high 10.3 yards per attempt.

So it feels a little strange to be discussing a quarterback who isn’t even 21-years-old yet. But the fact of the matter is Vick is 33. Even if he plays lights-out this season, and the Eagles bring him back, they very well could still be in the market for their QB of the future in next year’s draft.

Which brings us to the topic of this post: Johnny Manziel.

Greg A. Bedard of The MMQB wrote a terrific piece about Manziel’s prospects as an NFL QB and made the link between Manziel and Chip Kelly:

“I diagrammed some of my favorite plays at Tivy [High], and one of the Oregon coaches said, ‘We literally run the exact same offense with different terminology,’ ” Manziel told the San Antonio Express-News three years ago. “Coach Kelly said I was perfect for their system, and I knew I was going to accept as soon as they offered.”

Manziel later decided Oregon was too far from his hometown of Kerrville, Texas, about three and a half hours from College Station. But given Manziel’s talents and Kelly’s uptempo, frenetic offense, a Manziel-Kelly reunion would be blissful. “Oh my gosh. He would be the prototype,” an NFC general manager says.

Manziel is around 6-0 or 6-1, and Bedard says scouts feel he can run a 4.55 40. He also is said to have huge hands.

During a coach’s clinic (via Fishduck.com), Kelly talked about the importance of hand size in quarterbacks:

If the quarterback is not tall, look at his hands. That is the biggest coaching point to finding a quarterback. How big are his hands, and how well can he control the football? The height of the quarterback is not the important thing. No one playing quarterback throws over the line. They throw through lanes in the linemen. The important thing is the size of their hands.

There are several talented, athletic quarterback prospects expected to be available in next year’s draft, including one, Marcus Mariota, that Kelly coached at Oregon.

But we’re sure to hear more connections between Kelly and Manziel in the next nine months.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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