Before the Browns drafted Barkevious Mingo in the first round last year, he was a first-hand witness to all things Johnny Manziel while playing outside linebacker at LSU.
Mingo, like two former NFL quarterbacks, is a Manziel believer and thinks the QB's style of play should be left alone by whatever team drafts him next week.
As a junior in 2012, Mingo and his LSU teammates downed Manziel and Texas A&M, 24-19. Manziel had three interceptions and no touchdowns in the loss, one of two he and the Aggies suffered in 2012, when he won the Heisman Trophy as a redshirt freshman. Mingo had a sack.
"He was quick," Mingo told the Canton (Ohio) Repository. "He moved around the pocket a lot. It was hard to get your hands on him. He was jawing a little bit.
"I'm pretty sure he's going to bring that same thing to the NFL -- if a coach allows him to -- wherever he goes in the draft."
Manziel's style of play has its share of critics. Mingo, who finished his rookie season with five sacks, was asked if he thought Manziel would have to change the way he plays in the NFL.
"Some of the stuff, maybe," Mingo said. "But you can't take away what he does well. ... He makes people miss.
"At the end of the day, quarterbacks get paid to stay on their feet. If he can do it better by running outside the pocket, people upstairs are going to be happy."
Mingo was a defensive end at LSU but was drafted as an outside linebacker; as such, it's his job to harass quarterbacks. His main takeaway on Manziel?
"He's tricky; you really have to prepare for him," Mingo said.
Cleveland needs a quarterback and owns two first-round picks -- at Nos. 4 and 26. It seems a given the Browns try to add a quarterback in the first round, but new coach Mike Pettine said earlier this week that it's not "ideal" that the Brownstake a quarterback at No. 4. But if the Browns do take Manziel -- which means handling the resultant media circus that is sure to accompany him -- Browns linebacker Quentin Groves said the team is mature enough to deal with it. "If he comes to Cleveland," Groves said, "then he's our guy. We will protect him."
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
