Johnny Manziel was busy last week and it had nothing to do with actually playing football. He made news when he tweeted out the cell number of a friend, was shown cursing at officials during LeBron James' return to Cleveland, and even found himself on the December cover of Golf Digest.
Meanwhile, with the Browns (5-3) in third place in the division, and incumbent quarterback Brian Hoyer doing enough to keep his job, we continue to wait on Johnny Football. General manager Ray Farmer said Tuesday that while “everybody is eager to see what's under the hood," he's not going to rush Manziel onto the field.
This could be Johnny Manziel's game-day position for the near future. (Getty Images)
“The (goal) is for him to be successful over a long period of time, not just for a moment or a flash,” Farmer said, via ESPN.com. “We're going to put together the right group to make sure everything's in place. He's going to be ready, and we're going to be ready when he does get that opportunity.”
Last week, first-year coach Mike Pettine said he could "sense" that Manziel was frustrated with riding the pine. "The competitor that he is is one of the biggest reasons we brought him here. So if he didn't feel that way, I'd be shocked.''
Things will get interesting in the coming months. If Hoyer continues to help the Browns win, the front office may be more inclined to pay him starting quarterback money this offseason. Their other option is to let Hoyer, who is in the final year of his deal, test free agency and give Manziel the reins heading into 2015.
This assumes, of course, that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones doesn't send a couple first-round picks to Cleveland for Manziel, whom he wanted to draft 16th overall back in May. We're kidding -- though we suspect the thought crossed Jones' mind during the Cowboys' transatlantic flight to London. The possibility of being without Tony Romo for any length of time -- and replacing him with Brandon Weeden -- seems like more than enough reason to push an already impulsive man off the deep end.
Back on Earth, Farmer didn't offer specifics on when Manziel might find his way into the game plan.
“I want Johnny to play when Johnny's ready to play," Farmer said, adding, "Our goal is to build long-term success here. That's a process.”
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Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger throws 6 TDs for second consecutive game
Yeah, Ben Roethlisberger was historically great in Week 8 versus the Colts. But that was last week. You just can't go on expecting Big Ben to put up six touchdowns again, especially in Week 9 against the Ravens.Well, guess what.Roethlisberger threw six touchdowns Sunday night, setting an NFL record with 12 touchdown passes over the span of two games. After throwing for 522 yards last time out, Roethlisberger racked up "only" 340 yards in the Steelers' 43-23 victory over Baltimore. Roethlisberger spread his scores around to Le'Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton, Antonio Brown and Matt Spaeth.
While we had Roethlisberger ranked pretty highly among QBs this week -- sixth, coincidentally -- no one saw this coming just like no one saw last week's effort coming. And he faces the Jets next week! This ride, amazing as it is, may not be over.So ... what can you get for Big Ben right now in a trade? Perhaps some acres of land in Pennsylvania at this point. But if you own Roethlisberger, you have to at least dangle him out there in deals. There is absolutely no bigger sell-high candidate, and a little extra bonus of trading Big Ben now is that you can escape his Week 12 bye. I know we and everyone said it leading into this weekend, but, no, you can't expect six touchdowns every week.I own Roethlisberger and you can bet I'll be pushing him to everyone in my league. I have a feeling that a lot of knowledgeable owners who have been playing fantasy football for a while will respect Roethlisberger's recent success but not go gaga for him. They will still look at him as a quarterback who hasn't thrown for 30 touchdown passes since 2007. While he's now on pace for about 40 TDs, I think many will view this as a hot streak that is bound for a massive regression to the mean.However, if you have some greenhorns in your league who fall in love with the stats and are easily persuaded, you might be able to stage a raid.
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