Christian Kirk won't be the only hotly debated skill-position star drawing NFL scouts to Texas A&M Tuesday.
Throwing the ball to the 5-foot-10, 201-pound Kirk, who is currently ranked third on NFLDraftScout.com's receiver rankings, will be former Aggies Heisman Trophy winner and Cleveland Browns 2014 first-round pick Johnny Manziel, according to Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports.
Manziel, 25, is attempting to resurrect his NFL career after a series of off-field transgressions led him to be released from Cleveland two years ago.
The Texas A&M workout is expected to draw representatives from all 32 teams with plenty of decision-makers on hand, giving Manziel a much larger and more powerful audience than the one he threw in front of at the University of San Diego Pro Day last week.
In San Diego, Manziel connected on 36 of 38 pass attempts with officials from the Browns, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on hand.
Manziel, who has said he has an offer from a Canadian Football League team, is expected to participate in the short-season developmental Spring League. The two-weekend showcase in Austin, Texas, runs from March 28-April 15. That agreement, however, would almost surely be scrapped if Manziel were able to convince an NFL team that he is worthy of a second chance.
Manziel won the Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M in 2012 but couldn't match his college success during his stint with the Browns. He appeared in 14 games and passed for 1,675 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions while Cleveland won only two of his eight starts.
He had bigger problems off the field.
He was investigated by Dallas police in 2016 on charges of domestic violence against an ex-girlfriend, but the charges were dropped when he agreed to undergo counseling.
Manziel entered a rehabilitation center in 2015 and was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Last month, Manziel said he is addressing the issues that have derailed his playing career and plagued his life, including bipolar disorder.
Though scouts will need to investigate fully to determine whether Manziel has truly changed his ways, his talent is clear.
Scouts prior to the 2014 draft compared Manziel to former standout NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, a four-time Pro Bowler.
In an era in which dual-threat quarterbacks are more popular than ever, it is easy to see why Manziel drew comparisons to the similarly built 6-foot-2, 205-pound Garcia.
Just as Garcia was, Manziel is a more accurate passer on the move than he is standing flat-footed in the pocket. He made significant improvement as a traditional pocket passer over his career at A&M, showing increased velocity and placement on intermediate and deep routes.
His elusiveness and ability to turn potential losses into big gains made Manziel one of the more exciting (and polarizing) prospects in recent years. Manziel possesses excellent agility and burst, as well as straight-line speed. Like Garcia, what made Manziel so difficult to contain was his vision. Despite less than prototypical size, Manziel showed the instincts, awareness and enough arm to find receivers breaking open late.
If he can impress during Tuesday's workout, Manziel could be the one breaking into the NFL again, albeit a bit later than once expected.
