Texas A&M star quarterback Johnny Manziel is expected to formally declare his intentions to enter the NFL draft on Wednesday, ESPN reports.
Rendering the sports world’s worst kept secret a reality, Manziel will forgo his final two seasons of eligibility at A&M, where he was awarded the Heisman Trophy in 2012 and finished as runner-up to Jameis Winston this season.
ESPN adds Manziel formally submitted paperwork to the NFL league office early Wednesday and is rumored to have already hired LeBron James’ business partner and his LRMR agency to represent him in market dealings.
Widely projected as a first-round draft selection and one of the best quarterbacks available, Manziel is coming off an A&M career where he threw for 7,820 yards and 63 touchdowns while rushing for 2,169 yards and 30 more scores.
Manziel also became the first freshman in college football history to win the Heisman, amassing an SEC single-season total-offense record of 5, 116 yards.
Read More: Johnny Manziel’s NFL Draft Profile
Manziel also set A&M’s single-season record for passing yards (4,114) this season and finished 11 yards shy of becoming college football’s first sophomore to account for 10,000 career yards.
As Johnny Manziel declares for the draft, ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. rates Manziel as the No. 14 player on his Big Board, and Scouts Inc. ranks him as the 22nd-best player. ESPN College Football and NFL Draft Analyst Todd McShay projects Manziel to go as high as No. 4 in the draft.
