XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck Unsure If Johnny Manziel Will Be in Draft
Johnny Manziel's future in football is far from certain.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner recently come out to express his interest in potentially playing for the XFL's franchise in Houston when the league opens in February.
However, commissioner Oliver Luck told Tom Schad of USA Today he isn't sure about whether or not Manziel would be added to the draft pool.
Luck explained how they are going through workouts in each of the eight cities that will host a team. After the initial round of workouts, he expects to get 200 to 250 players to add to the draft pool. He also said the workouts are more so the coaches in the league could get a look at players who might deserve a shot, and so that is why Manziel has not been invited.
"There are a lot of guys that played in the AAF and played all seven games or whatever they had. We didn’t invite them here because we've got enough tape on them," Luck told USA Today. "So Johnny has some tape, right? Whether it's Canada—and we have two coaches from the CFL, [Marc] Trestman and June Jones. Or there's college. What he did obviously in the NFL.
"If eight guys say, 'we'd like that guy in the league,' we’ll put him in the league. Or put him in the draft pool. Whether teams draft him, that's up to the individual head coaches."
Luck added that the league will wait to finalize the draft pool after NFL teams finish cuts for the next season, noting plenty of good players who lose out on position battles in training camp could become available for the XFL. The draft is set for October.
Manziel, who played college football at Texas A&M and was drafted by the Browns with the No. 22 pick in 2014, has since played in the CFL and most recently the AAF.
