Report: Raiders meet with Johnny Manziel, Mark Davis “very impressed”

Feb 23, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel walks on the field after running the 40 yard dash during the 2014 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

It seemed inevitable that the Oakland Raiders would find themselves attached with Johnny Manziel at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine. After all the Raiders are in a clear market for a quarterback and Dennis Allen has deep roots to Texas A&M which is of course the school that Manziel became a mythical figure at over the past two seasons as one of college football’s most entertaining quarterbacks.

Those two things led to an easy assumption that Oakland would at least meet with “Johnny Football” while in Indianapolis and according to reports that meeting has already taken place with Raiders owner Mark Davis in attendance who was very impressed with Manziel.

Allen spoke on Manziel during his pre-Combine press conference saying that he is very interested in the potential of the A&M quarterback based on his versatility. “Obviously he’s accomplished a lot at the collegiate level and has been a very good football player being the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. I think that speaks in and of itself about how good a football player he is, so I think he’s a very talented football player I think he is a multi-dimensional football player, said Allen on Manziel who also said he looks forward to evaluating him further along in the draft evaluation process.

“I think he’s able to throw the ball. I think he’s able to throw the ball from the pocket, but he’s also able to create things with his feet. As we get more into the evaluation process, I think he’ll be a fun guy to really evaluate.”

At this point in time everyone is meeting with everyone and these stories do have the potential to be overblown, but it is interesting after hearing reports from beat writers around the Raiders that Teddy Bridgewater would be the only QB that Reggie McKenzie would draft with the fifth pick in the draft that the team would be meeting with Manziel with Mark Davis in the room. The fact that Davis is at the Combine shows he is interested in the Raiders rebuilding process and it will be interesting to see if he secretly wants a star player like Manziel or perhaps Jadeveon Clowney if one of the two drops into the Raiders laps at #5. Everything is on the table in February, but Manziel is a name we are starting to hear more and more of when it comes to highly touted prospects and the Raiders.