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Cleveland made some big moves in the 2014 NFL Draft, one of which was trading up with their second first round selection to acquire phenom quarterback Johnny Manziel out of Texas A&M University.  Manziel was a beast on the field during his tenure at Texas A&M, and entering the draft, he was the most discussed pick in the first round.  The discussion was over which team would draft him, and which teams would be the perfect fit for his abilities on the field, ranging from the Dallas Cowboys to the New York Jets.

Brian Hoyer was injured early on last season, so the Browns needed to add a high quality backup to their roster, in the event that Hoyer should go down again this season, or if his performance failed to meet the Browns expectations from their starting quarterback.  Manziel was the perfect fit for Kyle Shanahan's offense out of the quarterbacks available with said pick.

Johnny Manziel was impressive during the pre-season, and talks began swirling around the nation that Cleveland had just created yet another controversy at the position.  Brian Hoyer was etched in as the starter for the Browns, primarily due to his success during the three games he started last season.

Cleveland has been very competitive in the AFC North this season, where they are currently only a half game out of first place, despite being ranked fourth in the division.  Johnny Manziel has been keeping himself primed and ready to go at moments notice, whether he's needed as a starter, or to be utilized on gimmick plays.

The problem for Manziel has been the successful play from starting quarterback Brian Hoyer, who has already thrown for 1,714 yards this season.  Hoyer has also been efficent at the helm, completeing 57% of his passes, while throwing 8 touchdown passes and only 2 interceptions.  His current rating score is 91.0, a rating the Browns haven't witnessed since Derek Anderson's 82.5 rated performance in 2007.  In fact, the last Browns quarterback to finish closest to Hoyer's current rating was Vinny Tesaverde, who had an 87.8 rating in 1995.

Right now this is Brian Hoyer's team, and the starting quarterback job is Brian Hoyer's to lose.  Manziel is a very competitive player and leader on the field, so it's understandable why his impatience continues to grow each week.  That being said, Manziel needs to realize he's in a very good situation right now in Cleveland.

Manziel can benefit by learning from Hoyer, who spent three seasons learning from future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, and head ciach Bill Belichick, while serving as a back up quarterback for the New England Patriots.  The best thing Manziel can do now is learn to display some patience.  His time will come, but he needs to realize that time isn't right now.

Cleveland made some big moves in the 2014 NFL Draft, one of which was trading up with their second first round selection to acquire phenom quarterback Johnny Manziel out of Texas A&M University.  Manziel was a beast on the field during his tenure at Texas A&M, and entering the draft, he was the most discussed pick in the first round.  The discussion was over which team would draft him, and which teams would be the perfect fit for his abilities on the field, ranging from the Dallas Cowboys to the New York Jets.

Brian Hoyer was injured early on last season, so the Browns needed to add a high quality backup to their roster, in the event that Hoyer should go down again this season, or if his performance failed to meet the Browns expectations from their starting quarterback.  Manziel was the perfect fit for Kyle Shanahan's offense out of the quarterbacks available with said pick.

Johnny Manziel was impressive during the pre-season, and talks began swirling around the nation that Cleveland had just created yet another controversy at the position.  Brian Hoyer was etched in as the starter for the Browns, primarily due to his success during the three games he started last season.

Cleveland has been very competitive in the AFC North this season, where they are currently only a half game out of first place, despite being ranked fourth in the division.  Johnny Manziel has been keeping himself primed and ready to go at moments notice, whether he's needed as a starter, or to be utilized on gimmick plays.

The problem for Manziel has been the successful play from starting quarterback Brian Hoyer, who has already thrown for 1,714 yards this season.  Hoyer has also been efficent at the helm, completeing 57% of his passes, while throwing 8 touchdown passes and only 2 interceptions.  His current rating score is 91.0, a rating the Browns haven't witnessed since Derek Anderson's 82.5 rated performance in 2007.  In fact, the last Browns quarterback to finish closest to Hoyer's current rating was Vinny Tesaverde, who had an 87.8 rating in 1995.

Right now this is Brian Hoyer's team, and the starting quarterback job is Brian Hoyer's to lose.  Manziel is a very competitive player and leader on the field, so it's understandable why his impatience continues to grow each week.  That being said, Manziel needs to realize he's in a very good situation right now in Cleveland.

Manziel can benefit by learning from Hoyer, who spent three seasons learning from future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, and head ciach Bill Belichick, while serving as a back up quarterback for the New England Patriots.  The best thing Manziel can do now is learn to display some patience.  His time will come, but he needs to realize that time isn't right now.

Today, Cleveland Browns’ Head Coach Mike Pettine decided to name Brian Hoyer the team’s opening day starting Quarterback. This decision might disappoint some of the Browns faithful but it was the right thing to do.  Johnny Manziel, although he played a little better than Hoyer during their two preseason games, simply is not ready to start.

Manziel was a very good college Quarterback and I believe he will be a good professional QB, but he still has a way to go before becoming a full time starter in the NFL. He needs to become more comfortable with the playbook. Learning the playbook is not just understanding the terminology and the layout of the “X’s and O’s”; it involves knowing the personnel groups, formations, options, protections, alignments, hot reads, check downs and more. Manziel must also learn NFL defenses, his keys, stunt and blitz recognition, disguises and much, much more.  Manziel needs time to digest it all.

Those people (fans, reporters and analysts) that were pushing so hard for Manziel to start were not seeing the “big picture. It appears they just want to see “rock star” Johnny Manziel on the field, even if it isn’t in his best interest. Mike Pettine made the right decision. Hoyer gives the Browns their best chance of winning and it gives Johnny Manziel time to hone his craft.

Starting Johnny Manziel against the Pittsburgh Steelers would be downright cruel. The Dick LeBeau led Steelers Defense is tough, disciplined and very sophisticated. They disguise well and they hit hard.  There are reasons why LeBeau has only lost twice to rookie Quarterbacks in his long career and I don’t think Johnny Manziel is ready for the things LeBeau would throw at him.

The second and third weeks aren’t any better. The New Orleans Saints with their defensive architect, Rob Ryan, and the Baltimore Ravens with Dan Pees guiding their Defense roll into FirstEnergy Stadium in consecutive weeks. Both teams would be poised to give Johnny “Football” a very unpleasant and painful welcome.

Although Brian Hoyer has been a career back up, he is currently the best option on the Browns roster. Because Cleveland’s Defense is among the best in the NFL, they will keep the team in games. Hoyer will not be asked to “take the team on his back” and to win the game, but he will be asked to be efficient, to protect the ball and to do nothing to lose the game.

Hopefully the decision to start Hoyer against Pittsburgh ends the pervasive chatter and endless debates (especially on the NFL Network) about Johnny Manziel and the likelihood that he will start the first game of the season. He will not, unless Hoyer is injured or, for some other reason, cannot start.

Being named the starting Quarterback against the Steelers, however, is not, and should not be viewed as, an endorsement of Hoyer. If I read the various comments in press conferences and interviews correctly, Coach Pettine did not seem to be overwhelmed by either Quarterback’s performance.

The starting role for Hoyer appears to be temporary; the result of Manziel not being ready, not the result of Hoyer winning the job. Coach Pettine apparently “held his nose and swallowed” when he made the decision. Unless Hoyer plays “lights out” and wins at least one of those games, look for Manziel to start when the team travels to Tennessee on October 5.

It would be a surprise if Johnny Manziel wasn’t already “penciled in” to start in Tennessee and it would be equally surprising if Hoyer doesn’t realize that. “Johnny Manziel is a first round pick and that makes him more valuable to the team than Brian Hoyer. The Browns are paying Manziel more than it is paying Hoyer; this makes Manziel the greater investment and the team rightfully wants a good return on that investment.  Finally, Manziel is a marketing marvel with tons of marketing “up side” for the Browns and it is needless to say that very few members of the “Dog Pound” will stand in line to get a Brian Hoyer jersey.

The plan seems to be set. Hoyer will “carry the water” until the “Bye”; after that, it will be Manziel. The hope for Hoyer is to pull off a miracle and beats both the Steelers and Ravens or get lots of film “in the can.”

Is it possible when Johnny Manziel takes a look back at all that has happened leading up to the Cleveland Browns naming Brian Hoyer the starter for the season opener, the rookie will say he should have done things differently?

Probably not.

Now that the first round pick knows his fate, it is time to move forward and learn, not complain about the situation he is in. Manziel’s antics, which includes a brashness many of us have not seen since the days of Joe Namath or maybe even Deion Sanders, are really his own fault. When you promote yourself as a partying athlete who hangs out in Las Vegas with Rob Gronkowski, enjoys the company of perennial bad boys Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Justin Bieber and then looks like a fool rolling $20 in a bathroom on social media, you cannot help but not feel sorry for this kid.

According to ABC News, the Browns rookie quarterback said Wednesday that he's disappointed he won't be on the field against Pittsburgh in the season opener on Sept. 7. Manziel knows he didn't do enough during training camp and the preseason to convince Coach Mike Pettine to choose him over Hoyer, who overcame a serious knee injury and then held off the first-round draft pick to keep the job.

Manziel believes the focus should be on Hoyer.

"I'm the backup quarterback," Johnny Football said. "I shouldn't be in the spotlight."

But isn’t that something Manziel should have been saying all along – taking advice from the likes of Joe Montana and Emmitt Smith, listen to what his teammates like newly acquired Ben Tate had to say, as the rookie had not accomplished anything yet in the NFL and was being treated as the best thing since the shotgun offense was invented?

Manziel said he has no regrets about the way he approached his competition with Hoyer, which ended after the Browns coaching staff met Tuesday night to evaluate Cleveland's two quarterbacks, both of whom have performed poorly.

The ABC News story said that Manziel was criticized for some weekend partying, but the former Heisman Trophy winner insisted he wouldn't change a thing. He's growing and maturing and hopes to one day lead an NFL team. This is all new to him.

"Obviously I need to do it in the proper way, but I'm still going to continue to have fun in my life and continue to live my life, and I don't think any of that really slowed me in this competition. I think more than anything, if you come out and play well, it makes the decision a lot easier."

Pettine announced in a release before practice Wednesday that he'll go with Hoyer, who made three starts in 2013 before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last season. Pettine's decision ends weeks of competition and analysis, and the Browns are hoping it will allow Hoyer to relax and build some chemistry with Cleveland's struggling offense before they meet the dreaded Steelers, their long-time rivals.