CFB Reporter Calls BYU QB Zach Wilson ‘Mormon Johnny Manziel’

PROVO, Utah – BYU sophomore quarterback is preparing for his first full season as the Cougars starting quarterback. There’s a lot of expectations placed on the young signal-caller that dazzled Cougar fans and college football junkies with his play in last year’s Idaho Potato Bowl win going a perfect 18-for-18.

Banner Society’s Steven Godfrey and Richard Johnson recently got on the topic of BYU and Zach Wilson on their podcast, “Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody” and it was a great exchange.

The two were discussing a hypothetical of how the College Football Playoff committee would view an independent BYU at 8-0 in the 2019 season. With the final month of BYU’s 2019 schedule left with teams that won’t register any interest nationally, Johnson chimed in and shared how Zach Wilson could keep people interested in BYU even in November.

Zach Wilson named to the 2019 Maxwell Award watch list.

📝 https://t.co/bDzTQBxceb#BYUFOOTBALL #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/ZgVi7YFWoc

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) July 15, 2019

“Let’s pretend they (BYU) are 8-0 and they’ve done the 8-0 thing. If they’ve done the 8-0 thing in a convincing fashion, it means that they are going to have something a G5 needs to catch the attention. It means that Zach Wilson played really, really well at quarterback,” said Johnson.

Johnson continued, “And the way he (Wilson) plays… I joked around on the (Shutdown) Fullcast a couple of days ago and I called him the ‘Mormon Johnny Manziel.’ He’s a guy that can sling it, but when he runs, he’s like this short little white dude who runs with his hair on fire.”

If Zach Wilson can come anywhere close to the type of production Johnny Manziel put up while he was at Texas A&M, BYU is going to be in good hands.  We just might need to change the nickname to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint Johnny Manziel,” but we can save that for another time.

Surprisingly, when looking up the measurables for both Wilson and Manziel, Wilson stands three inches taller than the former NFL first-round pick.

College Station 📍 https://t.co/Wl4phg9GQm pic.twitter.com/CEmjEJ8myZ

— Johnny Manziel (@JManziel2) November 7, 2015

“He’s (Wilson) a guy who could catch the attention (of the committee), and if we’re saying BYU’s good enough to go 8-0, I’m going to say they’re good enough to torch the h— out of Liberty, Idaho State, and UMass by like and that’s the type of thing they would need to catch attention,” said Johnson.

Regardless of whether or not BYU registers any attention from the College Football Playoff committee, labeling Wilson as a Johnny Manziel-type has caught my attention to the highest degree. Even some BYU fans in the past have drawn the comparison between Wilson and the former Texas A&M star.

Dare I say Zach Wilson has some @JManziel2 resemblance?

— SumBum69 (@SumBumSZN) November 4, 2018

Serious question/hot 🔥 take… does anyone see a little bit of Johnny Manziel in Zach Wilson? Similar build, ability to keep plays alive. pic.twitter.com/clSBIQXg8G

— Jordan Smith (@jorsmith1) October 6, 2018

Now Cougar fans will hope that Wilson can remain healthy and lead the Cougars to some special heroics this fall and in the years to come.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.