Johnny Football is on the clock – and the former Texas A&M quarterback likes Shedeur Sanders.

Manziel, the one-time Cleveland Browns bust, told the Big Bets on Campus podcast that the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback and son of head coach Deion Sanders is his No. 1 pick in 2025.

‘Shedeur is obviously going to be a guy that’s going to be looked at and probably be the top quarterback coming off the board this year,’ Manziel said of Shedeur.

‘He’s played well for what he’s around him at times, he had guys out this week, and he still continues to find a way to put up good numbers and play really well,’ the former Big 12 star said of one of the conference’s highest-profile players.

A 22-year-old senior, Shedeur began playing college football under his Pro Football Hall of Famer father at Jackson State, an HBCU, before going to Boulder with Deion in 2023. This season they’re 4-2, which is marked improvement from last season, when the Buffs lost seven of their last eight games.

Johnny Manziel likes Shedeur Sanders to be the first-overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft 

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) in overtime against Baylor in Boulder 

As you might expect, Shedeur has impressed under center.

While he can’t match his father’s speed (who can?), Shedeur has shown good decision making and accuracy while completing a career-high 72.6 percent of his passes for 2,018 yards, 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

One concern about Shedeur is his habit of holding into the ball too long. As a result, he took 52 sacks last season and is threatening to break that mark this year after being dropped 23 times in six games.

‘He’s solid,’ one NFL team college scouting director told SI.com. ‘Talented passer. Holds the ball too long. Don’t see a top-five pick. … He’s probably a first round guy [though] because of the body of work and this class.’

There are other talented quarterbacks in the Class of 2025, such as Miami’s Cam Ward, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel. And because of that, there’s a chance Shedeur could fall to the bottom of the first round or out of it altogether.

‘I’m honestly not convinced he’s a first rounder,’ a scout told CBS Sports.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, left, talks with quarterback and son Shedeur Sander

It was a similar situation for Manziel as he was entering the NFL Draft more thana year after becoming the first freshman ever to win the Heisman. Ultimately he squeaked into the first round, going 22nd overall to the Browns in 2014, but his problems were only starting.

He has spoken since about his drug abuse during his time in the NFL, telling Shannon Sharpe in February that he dropped from 210 pounds to 170 in 2015 due to his heavy cocaine use.

Manziel was known to frequently party off the field and played just 14 career games. He recalled heading to Las Vegas right after the conclusion of the 2015 season and taking stock of his drug problem.

‘The coke, the oxy and the Percocet were very, very tumultuous in my life and popped their head especially the days of wandering around the Hollywood Hills,’ he said on the Club Shay Shay podcast.

‘It makes sense why you’d see me so sporadic. I was 210 pounds when I left Cleveland. I was 170 pounds sitting in Vegas.

‘How do you lose 40 pounds?’ Manziel asked himself. ‘You’re on a strict diet of blow.’

Manziel said in the interview that he’s now trying to stay sober.

However, he has remained relevant in football circles – particularly when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks on podcasts.

Manziel thinks there will be an opening for a starting QB in Charlotte after Young’s benching

Manziel played just two seasons in the NFL for the Browns before flaming out of the pros

Ultimately, Manziel explained, Shedeur will go wherever he’s the best fit.

So while 1-5 Jacksonville could end up with the first pick next April, the team just invested $275 million in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in spite of the team’s struggles.

A more likely landing spot for Sanders might be in Charlotte, where the Carolina Panthers have benched Bryce Young, the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

‘I think the Carolina situation is one that’s obvious they’re going to go in a different direction,’ Manziel said. ‘I mean you spend the picks to get Bryce Young, and now he is sitting there on the bench.’

And Sanders isn’t the only Buffaloes star who could be taken among the first five picks next April. Wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter could also be in the mix, depending on which side of the football NFL teams envision him playing at the professional level.