If Marshall Faulk were sitting in the chair of Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith, his first pick of the NFL draft would be either South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, or Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel.
But his first instinct would be self-preservation.
The Hall of Fame running back likes both prospects, but said Wednesday on NFL Network's "NFL AM" that job security as a general manager would ultimately compel him in one direction or the other.
"My first choice as a GM who is secure in his job, I'm going with Johnny Manziel. If I'm a GM and I'm worried about my job, then I take Clowney. You're going with a sure thing. You put Clowney on the field with a J.J. Watt, and he's going to get a lot of one-on-ones, he's going to win those battles, and you're going to look good," Faulk said. "But if my job is secure, I'm going with Manziel. I'm going to sell those tickets."
For all the pre-draft angst about whether Clowney loves the sport enough to give it his full effort, Faulk's sentiment suggests that Manziel is ultimately the bigger risk. The bigger injury risk, the bigger behavioral risk, and in the end, the bigger bust risk. A general manager with plenty of rope from ownership could roll the Manziel dice without necessarily setting up his own demise, and hope for a spectacular payoff. Clowney, however, would be the better bet to immediately improve a team.
Publicly, of course, general managers wouldn't admit to teetering on such emotions, but Faulk gives us some insight into the decision Smith might be grappling with at the moment.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
