It's Johnny Football! Buy The Hype! For Now ...

I'm not certain where this whole Johnny Manziel thing will end up when his NFL career is over.

But for some reason, if he was a stock on the NYSE, I think I'd still hold out until I see more.

Having said that, I do think his first game action in a Cleveland Browns uniform is the perfect setting for the rookie to make another big splash ... and his first in NFL action.

What will also help is the fact that Mr Footballl won't start tonight when his Brownies travel to Detroit. Those duties will be handled by the current No 1 QB on Cleveland's depth chart, Brian Hoyer. The significance is Manziel will not likely see many, if any, Lions defensive starters by the time he takes his first snap.  

That may not be the case for Pre-Season Game No 2, as there's talk in the Cleveland camp that Head Coach Mike Pittine may promote Manziel to the No 1 spot by then. Yes, you do get the sense that there's an old fashioned quarterback battle brewing in Cleveland.

Having established that, you might be wondering how it translates to a gambling perspective, and I'm here with the answer.

I love betting on teams with quarterback battles this early in the pre-season against a team that has no quarterback battle, like Detroit.  

That's because you're getting two potential NFL starters possibly playing into the third quarter, while the opposing team's first-string QB sees limited action before giving way to a series of quarterbacks just playing to fill out the depth chart. And that's what you have after Matthew Stafford leaves the game for the Lions.

Furthermore, I love the fact that Cleveland sends out seven-year veteran Tyler Thigpen as their third quarterback. No, he hasn't lit it up yet several seasons into his NFL career, but understand he will oppose many Detroit defenders at third-string or lower on their depth chart.

Now, what's not getting much play is  the Browns defense, where Pettine has ruffled a few feathers after demoting some of last year's starters to the second unit. That just means some of their top-line defenders from a season ago should really get a chance to shine -- perhaps proving their coach wrong -- against Deteoit's second-unit offense.

To reiterate, I am not among those buying the 'Johnny Football' hype as it pertains to the NFL, but I do think Bovada is presenting you a great gift in giving Cleveland a point. So I suggest jumping on the bandwagon for now and banking on Cleveland. After all, they might just revert back to being the same Cleveland Browns they almost always have been before too long.

My pick:  Cleveland Browns +1

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Result:  Detroit 13 Cleveland 12     push

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