Johnny Manziel's height may not be a deciding factor for head coach Bill O'Brien. At Friday's press conference from the NFL Scouting Combine, O'Brien addressed questions about the ideal measurables in a young quarterback.
"There's one thing to be a certain height and there's another thing to look at the way the player's built and I think that goes into the evaluation process, too," O'Brien said. "There's one thing to be a 5-foot-11 guy but a guy that's built very stoutly and can take some of the pounding if you run that style of offense."
The timing couldn't be better for Manziel, who did not eclipse the 6-foot mark, officially coming in at 5-feet-11 ¾ and 207 pounds early Friday morning. He did surpass Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater and Central Florida's Blake Bortles with the biggest hand size at 9 7/8 inches. It's a physical attribute that O'Brien likes in a quarterback.
"It's not just what his height is," O'Brien said after the press conference. "It is really important because of the grip of the football especially in bad weather games. When you have to really grip the football I think it's an important trait for the quarterback to have."
Quarterbacks underwent measurements, medical examinations, and team interviews on Friday at the NFL Combine. The quarterback group will throw and perform on-field drills on Sunday.
