Johnny Manziel: Perfect for Chip Kelly's System?

Johnny Manziel, affectionately known as "Johnny Football", is no stranger to headlines. After winning the Heisman trophy in his freshman year at Texas A&M, Manziel faced a lot of controversy entering A&M's 2013 campaign.

There's no question Manziel can be a fun player to watch and root for, but is the redshirt sophomore long for the NFL?

Some think so.

Lost in this short week's coverage of the Eagles-Chiefs Thursday Night Football game was an interesting story over at TheMMQB. The article discussed Manziel's NFL potential. While Manziel's short-comings are acknowledged, such as a lack of height, arm strength, and a "choir-boy image", there is no denying he has some talent.

The article also mentions how Johnny Football originally committed to the Oregon Ducks while Chip Kelly was still there. Manziel himself spoke about the opportunity:

"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 didn't end up attending Oregon because it was too far away from his hometown in Texas. Kelly missed out on Johnny Football in college, but that doesn't mean he could miss out on him at the professional level. With the Eagles QB situation unclear in the long term, it's very possible that Kelly will look to draft one. Will it be Manziel, though? One NFC GM spoke on the thought of this possibility, "Oh my gosh. [Manziel] would be the prototype [for Chip Kelly's offense]".

Kelly spoke on the record about Manziel before as well.

You’re not coaching that," Kelly told USA Today last year while he was still at Oregon. "But if a guy has that kind of ability, you’re not gonna tell him to stop. He just goes… He’s fun to watch. He’s great for football."

Only time will tell if the two are paired up like they were destined to be at one time, but the 2014 Draft is so far away and there is no guarantee Manziel even declares for the draft this soon. But for now it's just something fun to consider.

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