Simms: Cleveland ‘the best situation’ for Manziel

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It's the year of Johnny Manziel. The former Texas A&M quarterback was taken by the Browns with the No. 22 overall pick and the world can't stop talking about him.

So naturally he was a topic of conversation when Jim Nantz and Phil Simms stopped by the "CBS This Morning" studios on Wednesday to talk about the super fantastic lineup of "Thursday Night Football" games scheduled for the mothership this year.

Simms said he thinks Manziel "got very fortunate" ending up in Cleveland and it's "the best situation" for the Heisman winner.

"People have forgotten that his offensive coordinator is Kyle Shanahan. And Kyle Shanahan was with the Washington Redskins and he did an unbelievable job with [Robert Griffin III]," Simms said. "I expect him to create a new kind of offense. I think he got very fortunate going to the Cleveland Browns, Johnny Manziel, and he's probably in the best situation he could've found for himself in Cleveland."

Nantz didn't disagree at all and believes Manziel and Cleveland are a great fit because people are talking about the win-starved city for the first time in a long time.

"There's so much interest with Johnny Football as he's known. And you mix it with a city that's starved for a win," Nantz said. "I'm happy for Cleveland. That's an important city in our AFC franchise on Sundays. Not anything to brag about for a long time. Now with Johnny Manziel coming to Cleveland it's an explosive combination of a city just dying for the opportunity to be back on the map again and the most-talked about player entering the NFL year."

So will the Browns actually hold out and manage to not start Manziel? Nantz, like many of us, ain't buying it.

"Jimmy Haslam, their owner, said he's their backup going into camp but that's not announcing the starter for Week 1," Nantz said. "If you look at the last nine quarterbacks taken in the first round of NFL Drafts have been the starter. Brian Hoyer's the starter going into camp but we shall see. I'd be shocked if Johnny Manziel isn't the Cleveland Browns starter this season."

Selling tickets and getting people to talk about your franchise aren't good reasons to draft a player. But if you're Cleveland and you can make those things happen while acquiring a franchise quarterback, it's an added bonus.

It appears they've pulled it off.

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Browns confirm they will be a run-heavy team; rookie RB Terrance West could have big role



An NFL team with a possible rookie starter at quarterback that perhaps lost its best wide receiver for a large chunk, if not all, of the season sounds like a team that will depend on running the football. So, it should come as no shock Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is stressing just that.According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Haslam "keeps stressing 'we're going to run the ball and pass when necessary."One of the beneficiaries of that philosophy should be third-round pick Terrance West. The running back out of Towson was a finalist for FCS Offensive Player of the Year in 2013 after running for more than 2,500 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior. He is 5-foot-9, 225 pounds with 4.50-40 wheels. The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto wrote last week that the Browns "absolutely love" West, who is offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's "kind of back." West is physically similar to the Redskins' Alfred Morris, who Shanahan helped turn into a premier running back. Yet, West has better receiving skills.



This might be seen as reason to be concerned about Ben Tate, but the Browns are probably going to run so much this season -- especially if Josh Gordon is suspended for the entire season -- it may not matter a whole lot if he shares a bunch of carries with West; both players are still going to put up numbers. And you know Johnny Manziel is going to run plenty. That is, if he beats out Brian Hoyer for the starting job, which I expect to happen unless Manziel suffers a preseason injury or Hoyer plays so well that the Browns must put him on the field. But that is a high bar to meet, and the pressure from the local media and fans will most likely lead Browns coaches to start Manziel sooner than later.I expect Tate to be the team's Week 1 starter at running back, and I would obviously draft him first among the two RBs, but it's not as if the Browns are financially committed to him; Tate is playing on a two-year deal through 2015 with only $2.5 million guaranteed. If West outperforms him early on or if Tate suffers an injury, as he has every year of his career, West could turn into a major value selection late in drafts.