The Johnny Football Index and 2014 Draft Week 2

A weekly discussion on SEC stars and how they rank on the Johnny Football Index.

The Johnny Football Index

The Johnny Football Index is our weekly tribute to Johnny Manziel’s ability on and off the field. Each week, we rank players according to three factors: on-field ability, celebrity and off-the-field headlines. Johnny Manziel scored a 10 in all three categories giving him the only perfect score of 30 in the modern era. Each week, we also draft players to build the ultimate rosters in an attempt to pile up the most JFI numbers. More explanation of the process can be found here: Johnny Football Index: Week 1.

The Draft

Each week, Kevin and Mack will draft a player (or coach) to fill out a roster. Upon drafting a player, the selector will also propose a JFI score for that player. As the season progresses, we will update the scores based on on-field performance and off-field news making ability. At the end of the year, we’ll tally it up and announce a winning roster.

JFI Adjustments:

Mack: Okay, so first let’s recap our first round picks and discuss any possible JFI adjustments needed. Nick Marshall had the week off, so nothing on the field and of course nothing off the field because he remains to be pretty boring otherwise.  Why can’t he do something awesome for me? I’m hoping it’s just the fact he had a week off, but I’m having a little drafter’s remorse with my first pick.

Kevin: Yeah, bye weeks on the field and straight behavior off the field don’t help your JFI numbers. My boy Fournette didn’t strike a Heisman pose this week, so that is pretty disappointing. His early week apology for the previous Heisman pose was even more disappointing. C’mon Les, I expect you to be helping my JFI numbers, not hurting them. Fournette did have a decent game against another nobody – Averaged over 5 yards a carry, so he is trending in the beast-like direction. In my opinion, we keep Marshall and Fournette at their previously determined JFI numbers at least for another week.

Mack: That seems reasonable enough. Since I am coming off a bye week, I can’t argue with a no-point change. I mean, NO I DISAGREE. Right? We can’t just totally agree all the time again. Maybe this isn’t the place to start disagreeing though. Let’s move on to week two’s picks and the point allocation.

Week 2 Picks

Kevin: I picked first in round 1. According to the Official JFI Rules, you go first in round 2. You are on the clock…

Mack: With the 3rd pick of the 2014 JFI draft, I select Todd Gurley.

Kevin: What! Sure his ability is off the charts, but his off field antics number might be a negative eleven.

Mack: Listen, who’s antics are even in the positives right now? I have to go off of ability. I did find his comments after the loss to South Carolina interesting. He was so dejected. I mean, I know he just lost, but that attitude could go one of two ways. He could go off, or maybe go into a shell. I obviously hope for the latter. What am I even doing? Am I talking myself out of this pick? Anyway, point allocation.  Ability has got to be a 10. No one is touching him right now. He can do whatever he wants. Celebrity is a 5 at the moment. He doesn’t really do anything cool, but he is already in the Heisman talk, so that number can go up as the season progresses. Off-field antics is a 2. I need him to have more fun. Any objections?

Kevin: Ok, I’m going to say that his celebrity should actually be higher. Maybe a 6 or 7, but his antics should go down to zero. That said, it makes his overall score very respectable, but I’m not sure there’s much room for growth.

Mack: I was trying to create some room for growth with the 5 at celebrity, but you’ve obviously seen through that. I will concede a point on antics and add one to celebrity, giving the Gurley pick 10 in ability, 6 in celebrity and 1 in off-field antics for a total of 17.

Kevin: I’ll agree to Gurley as an overall 17 which gives you a big score. No more objection from me, because I’M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT MATTHEW MAUK OF THE MISSOURI TIGERS WILL BE JOINING MY TEAM. This guy is everything you want with regards to the JFI. I’ve been planning my presentation of Mauktober’s JFI score, so please get settled in for a few minutes…

On the ability score, I’m going to go with a 6, but this has some room to go higher in the weeks ahead of Mauktober keeps dropping 4 touchdowns a game.

On the celebrity meter, I’m also going to go with a 6. He was highly touted out of high school, has been helped by the success of Missouri in 2013 (and his role in it) and came into 2014 pretty well hyped. He showed up to SEC Media Days in a bow tie and a red beard. I thought to myself at Media Days, man, this guy could be the next Manziel if he can just become friends with a celebrity or two or date a model or something. Even more, he looks way cooler than Manziel. If we’re honest, Mauk’s red beard > Manziel’s receding hair line. I love Mauk, and we haven’t even gotten to the best part.

The best part of Mauk’s story involves his run in with the law. As a young freshman at the University of Missouri, Maty Mauk went on a little joy ride. It involved a pair of ladies, a scooter, and some frustrated police officers. With two girls onboard with him, Mauk “made contact” with a couple vehicles on his scooter. With the police in pursuit, Mauk refused to stop and ran a stop sign. I picture him screaming YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME as he travels 21 miles per hour with no shirt on, a long red beard blowing in the wind and two ladies screaming GO MATY GO. While this brush with the law didn’t have huge ramifications, the context I feel makes up for the lack of sentencing. I’m torn between a 6 and a 7 for Mauk on the off-field antics meter. I’d appreciate your input on the matter.

Mack: If you could see my face right now, you would see the face of a man who feels out-picked. Maty Mauk has a very high JFI ceiling, no question. The scooter story is the stuff of legend. I recommend a 6 for the off-field antics. I do feel like Mauktober could come into play, like a werewolf with a full moon. We could see some big things from him in the coming month.

Kevin: Since we have no category for beard and thus cannot give Mauk points for his facial hair, I’d like to propose we grant Mauk a 7 on the antics meter, thus giving my man a 6 + 6 + 7 = 19.

Mack: Beard point awarded with the stipulation that any change to the beard would bring this point back into question. I never would have thought 19 for Mauk going into this, but that is the beauty of the JFI, there is no metric quite like it.

Kevin: Agreed. To recap the Maty Mauk Joy Ride of 2013, he was arrested on suspicion of 4 misdemeanors: leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, resisting arrest by fleeing a vehicle stop, operating a vehicle in a reckless manner and failure to observe a traffic control device. There were no charges for having two women on the scooter with him. Moreover, after fleeing, the cops found his scratched up scooter with no sign of Mauk, his beard, or the two ladies. No official report on Mauk’s activities later that evening. My favorite part of this story is that the Maty Mauk Joy Ride of 2013 occurred just two months after another Missouri QB – Corbin Berkstresser – was arrested for hitting a parked car and then fleeing the scene. Is hitting stationary vehicles and fleeing authorities part of the Mizzou QB development program? If so, I’ve obviously been too down on Mizzou in recent months.

Mack: It’s either part of their development program, or an effort to get more people talking about them since Mizzou seemingly always flies under the radar. Okay, so for our week two picks we’ve got Todd Gurley with a 17 JFI and Maty Mauk with a 19 JFI. For now, it seems you are leading. We shall see how the next week plays out. Till next time…

Results After Week 2