So has JFF lost a step?

He's been sitting in the pocket dropping aces. No need to run so far. You'll see his quickness soon enough.

Beer Bryant brought this up in another thread last week, to which I posted the following response:

This discussion has been had on Ag boards as well. A few people saw what you saw; most say he looked the same. Some possible explanations for your observation:

- This year (as opposed to last) he's going through his progressions--which goes against his natural instinct to take off in the open field

- He's basically been working in the pocket since January. No running allowed in spring, summer, or fall camp. Could've been just a little rusty

- Added approx. 15# of muscle (entirely intentional. Johnny at 210# is more resilient than Johnny at 195#), which could impact his elusiveness

Again, most people disagreed with the "Johnny was slower" observation; but some saw what you saw. Guess we'll know more as the season progresses.

I'm one who happens to believe that JFF's speed isn't his strength; it's his vision & instincts that make him such a freak.

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- This year (as opposed to last) he's going through his progressions--which goes against his natural instinct to take off in the open field

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Good point. I noticed at one point in the Rice game he started to take a step or two to run, stopped (almost like he was thinking about it), and then threw downfield to his receiver.

Nope, saving it for your team. Why would he go 100%?

YOLO

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but I did notice his YPC is way down compared to last year.

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4.2 yards per carry so far (13 carries for 67 yards)

He had 17 carries for 60 yards vs. Florida (3.5 ypc) and 13 carries for 124 yards vs. SMU (9.5 ypc) in our first two games last year.

That rounds out to 30 carries for 184 yards. (6.1 ypc).

What you aren't talking about, however is this:

vs. Florida (2012) - 23 for 30, 173 yards, 0 TD
vs. SMU (2012) - 20 for 36, 294 yards, 4 TD

That's 43 for 66, 467 yards and 4 TD after 2 games.

After 2 games this year, Manziel is 35 for 50 with 1 INT, 520 yards, and 6 touchdowns.

After 2 games in 2012, Manziel had played 7 total quarters, accounted for 651 yards and 7 touchdowns.

After 2 games in 2013, Manziel has played 5 total quarters and accounted for 587 yards and 7 touchdowns.

If you want to extrapolate, had Manziel played 7 quarters in the first two games of 2013, he would account for the following:

822 total yards, 10 TD.

I think he gained 2.

So much attention is paid to his running ability and questioning if he can truly play QB in the NFL, I think you'll see him proving his doubters wrong through the air more than last year.

hope he tries that in sec play