It's a given that the more NFL coaches and general managers like about a draft prospect, the less they tend to say about that prospect publicly. But at times, the axiom works in reverse as well, and a coach who would have no conceivable need for a particular player is far more willing to speak his mind about him.
File San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh's comments on Johnny Manziel under the latter.
"I'd welcome the challenges of taking Johnny Manziel," Harbaugh said, according to sfgate.com. "(He) sees the field like nobody I've ever seen see the field in college football. You'd love to work with that."
The 49ers, of course, have one of the NFL's better young quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick, hence no need for Manziel. Not that the opportunity would be there for the club to draft him anyway, not with the No. 30 overall pick and Manziel bring projected as a top-10 selection. Still, praise for Manziel's ability to see the field is interesting coming from Harbaugh, a former quarterback himself. Field vision doesn't exactly top the list of assets that most critiques of Manziel assign to the former Texas A&M star. In fact, it's his ability to patiently make reads from the pocket that is under scrutiny, given that he operates outside the pocket so often and has the instinct to tuck and run all too often for the NFL game.
Now, about those coaches who already have a quarterback of the future ... yes, of course, they're willing to share their Johnny Manziel opinions.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
