Nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to draft one of these QBs "because of a stupid single day throwing in shorts" and for what it's worth, Carr and Bortles both did their share of producing "when the lights are on and the games count" too.
And the one guy that might have, is dead. RIP.
I understand that he's an appealing prospect but frankly, I don't think his chances of success in the NFL are significantly higher than some of the QBs people are aggressively against the Vikings selecting.
I think the thing that makes him appealing is that his ceiling is so much higher than those other prospects, even if his chances of actually success aren't. A lot of people start buying lottery tickets when that grand prize is high, even if their chances are the exact same of actually winning it. I think that's the intriguing part of Manziel. You're better $1 to win $1M at 1:100 odds, whereas the rest of these guys are more along the lines of betting $1 to win $100...at 1:10 odds.
Manziel could be a Brett Favre type, who raises the entire team around him (pokes Mothman with a stick), not sure anyone else in this draft has that type of character/attitude/intangibles. Even though any number of them might be capable of leading a good/great team to a super bowl and even winning, Manziel could possibly take a 2009 Vikings team and despite the year before and after, have them on the doorstep of greatness!
Is it worth the gamble? Considering how hard it is to hit on QBs, outside of the rare once or twice in a decade "sure things" that go #1 overall and don't have all that many questions, it might be. Especially when comparing him to the other QBs in this draft that have some pretty glaring weaknesses, and don't appear to have terribly high ceilings.
A noodle armed midget with character concerns, and he might just be the best QB option in the draft.
