George Whitfield: Johnny Manziel will 'beat this,' excel under QB coach Kevin O'Connell

Quarterback guru George Whitfield has no doubt Johnny Manziel will be able to turn things around in his second NFL season.

"I knew he had challenges,'' Whitfield, who has worked with Manziel for years, told Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group at the scouting combine. "But like everything else when faced with a challenge, he overwhelms it, he comes through (it). 

"That's always been my resounding answer to everything involving Johnny. He'll beat this. He'll find a way to get through this and get past it. I just believe that he can do anything and I can't wait for him to be back up on his feet, come back out rewired, with a new approach, and then get on back out there and do his thing.''​

Whitfield said he's even more confident that Manziel will be able to live up to expectations as a first-round pick now that he'll be working with Kevin O'Connell, who was recently hired as the Cleveland Browns' quarterbacks coach. 

O'Connell mentored Manziel leading up to last year's draft, so he's familiar with the young quarterback's strengths and weaknesses.

"When (they hired O'Connell) I thought, 'Wow, of all places,' because Kevin could've gone and coached anywhere in the NFL and of all 32 teams, he goes to the guy that we both had last year,'' Whitfield said. 

"I think it's going to be good for Johnny. There's familiarity there. They already have a working relationship. It's also going to be great for the Browns, because Kevin understand Johnny's habits. He'll understand him better to kind of re-route him, what buttons need to be pushed, how to get him over the hump in some situations. That's good for the Browns. It's just a great move on Coach Pettine's part to bring just a really sharp teacher in Kevin. Kevin is a teacher.''

Whitfield said it was Manziel's decision to enter rehab and that he's proud of him for doing it. 

"That means now you're putting yourself first in this circumstance," Whitfield said. "It's really your future that's at stake.''