Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer is still confident that Johnny Manziel will develop into a franchise player in the near future despite losing to Brian Hoyer in the race for the starting quarterback job.
Farmer, who was behind the Browns' decision to select Manziel as the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, said that the rookie quarterback is doing fine and just most people are just expecting too much from him.
"I think he is right where he's supposed to be," Farmer said of Manziel via ESPN.
Farmer appealed to fans to temper their expectations, saying that they did not expect Manziel to be so effective right from the get go, citing the comparison to Hall of Famer Steve Young.
"I laugh because it's four weeks into his first training camp and everyone is waiting to see Steve Young run out the tunnel. I don't know where the reality in that lies," Farmer said.
Farmer reiterated that Manziel needs more time to adjust to what they intend to do in the upcoming NFL season, which is the reason why he was not surprised when coach Mike Pettine picked Hoyer as their starting QB.
"It's like anything else," Farmer added. "If you're learning a foreign language, guess what, you're not going to go to Spain tomorrow and in four weeks feel like you're fluent in the language and just start talking. It just doesn't happen like that. You may be able to communicate, but not effectively."
Manziel played in his first preseason game as Hoyer's backup on Saturday against the St. Louis Rams where he completed 10-of-15 passes for 85 yards to push his preseason tally to 24-of-42 passes completed for 213 yards.
Pettine recently said that Manziel could play a major role for them despite failing to earn a starting job as they are considering using a two-quarterback system, and the 21-year-old quarterback said that he will be ready to contribute once his coach calls his number.
"I feel like any way I can help contribute to this team, whether it's looking at a certain coverage, looking at something during the game, or getting in and having a certain package during the game, just anything that I can do to help this offense to win games -- that's the position I'm in and that's all I really want to do," Manziel said.
