National Football League

Hoge: Manziel a 'juvenile punk,' will turn out like Tebow

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:23 p.m. ET

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Plenty of NFL analysts have questioned whether Johnny Manziel can succeed as a pro. Merril Hoge has taken that doubt to another level, though.

The former NFL running back isn't afraid to voice his opinion as an ESPN analyst, and he didn't hold back when discussing Manziel on Wednesday morning. Hoge ripped the Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback to shreds during an appearance on a Pittsburgh radio station.

"If you're the Steelers' defense (playing Cleveland in Week 1), you want No. 2 (Manziel) to walk out on that field," Hoge said on WDVE-FM. "You want him on that field. He has no business being on the field right now."

Hoge made headlines for his brutally honest scouting reports of Tim Tebow after the Heisman Trophy winner was drafted. Now Manziel is in Hoge's cross hairs.

"When I was doing the draft and I was going through and studying him, I actually got done and it was the first time other than Tim Tebow came out and I was like, 'God, there is nothing — nothing that he does — that transitions to the National Football League,'" Hoge commented. "There's not one skill set that he had that you're like, 'Gosh, he's a first-rounder.' Really, nothing."

Hoge also tore into Manziel's character for the quarterback's reported text to the Browns on draft night.

"When he texted the Browns and said 'Let's wreck this league,' that didn't just burn players; it infuriates coaches," Hoge said. "It told you, too, that he's a juvenile punk. He was like that, and he's still like that."

It sounds like Hoge isn't very optimistic that Manziel will be able to turn things around.

"This will be the saddest, quickest ending we have seen in quite some time," Hoge said. "It'll be like a Tim Tebow (situation)."

Manziel didn't take the Tebow route in reacting to Hoge's criticism, but he was diplomatic nonetheless.

"Stuff pops up on my phone and I happened to see something," Manziel said Wednesday. "He's been in the opposite corner of me for a while now, so all I can really do is go out and try to prove him wrong. He's entitled to every bit of his opinion."

Hear more from Hoge's interview below: