Johnny Manziel has been predicted to go everywhere from the No. 1 overall pick to dropping out of the first round completely. The Texans need a quarterback, but they also cannot pass up on Jadeveon Clowney.Plenty of teams are looking at the former Texas A&M star as their next franchise face and are trying to decide if a trade up is the way to go. As numerous teams iron out their draft plans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to avoid the risk and move up for Manziel.
If the Houston Texans draft Clowney, the next best option for Manziel is the Jacksonville Jaguars. The team needs a quarterback maybe more than anyone. The St. Louis Rams were heavily considered to draft the quarterback until NFL.com reported that it was all a smokescreen to drive up interest. Sam Bradford was reportedly told that the Rams have no interest in getting Manziel and that his job as the starter was completely safe.
If the Buccaneers are getting Manziel, they have to trade up with the Jaguars. IF they do not, they run the risk of losing the quarterback and having to settle for someone like Teddy Bridgewater. According Yahoo Sports writer Charles Robinson, the Buccaneers are prepared and expected to move up for Manziel. The team currently holds the No. 7 pick. The Raiders, Browns and Jaguars all draft ahead of them and could scoop up Manziel. Robinson believes Tampa Bay will be aggressive and eliminate any chance that another team ahead of them gets the quarterback and just jump up to the highest bidder.
There have been conflicting reports coming out of Tampa Bay as to who exactly new head coach Lovie Smith wants manning the offense. The team signed Josh McCown in the offseason, a quarterback Smith is very familiar with. He has already been named the starting quarterback for at least 2014. Mike Glennon is sitting behind him, a quarterback that is highly scouted as one of the better players in the league. He spent most of 2013 as the Buccaneers' starting quarterback, but he has no ties to Smith or anyone left in the front office. Smith is ready to get his own quarterback to begin developing and that is simply not Glennon.
If the Buccaneers want to get creative in their trading pieces, they could always offer up Glennon over more draft picks. That likely will not happen because Glennon is not worth that much, but Jacksonville will still need a quarterback after the move down and Tampa Bay has one of the better young players in the game.
