Over the past few seasons, the Cleveland Browns have played a form of Russian Roulette with the quarterback position, and although that’s not the only reason for being 15-65 over the last five years, it’s a good place to start.
In 2013, Rob Chudzinski started the season with second year pro Brandon Weeden as the starter, and when he went down, Brian Hoyer, who at that point had made one NFL start was thrust into action.
When Hoyer was lost for the season, it left Jason Campbell, who had some experience, but also never started an NFL game again after that season.
The next season, then new coach Mike Pettine went with Hoyer to start the season, with rookie Johnny Manziel in reserve. With Hoyer’s season started to go south, and the Browns were in playoff contention, Pettine’s only choice was to start Manziel, who was known more for his improvisational skills at Texas A & M.
In 2015, the Browns signed Josh McCown to be the starting QB, but even though they knew the veteran’s history, that is frequently injured and an extreme losing record, the backups for him were Manziel and Austin Davis, a third year player with eight career starts in St. Louis when Sam Bradford was injured.
The following year had two frequently hurt guys, McCown and Robert Griffin III on the roster with two rookies, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan backing them up. After the two vets were injured, predictably, Kessler wound up playing way too much for a third round draft pick.
And last season, Cleveland started DeShone Kizer, another rookie, this time picked in the second round, with Hogan and Kessler in reserve.
This is another change with GM John Dorsey being involved, and it is welcome to say the least.
Dorsey traded for Tyrod Taylor, a seven year veteran, although only 29 years old, and a player who was his team’s starter for the previous three seasons.
As you read above, that has not been the case in any of the last five seasons. In that span, the Browns had oft-injured veterans who hadn’t started in at least a year, save for McCown in ’15, and he was coming off a 1-10 season in Tampa Bay.
Taylor was 8-6 as a starter last season, and is 22-20 over the last three campaigns.
We are very confident Cleveland will be drafting a QB with the first overall pick next month, and so they are not in the situation of having to start a rookie if Taylor has to miss a game, they signed Drew Stanton on Sunday as a free agent.
Stanton is 34, and has never been a full fledged starter in the NFL, but he did start 13 games for the Cardinals in the last four seasons, and registered a 9-4 record in those starts.
He’s not a long term solution for sure, and his numbers over that span aren’t anything to write home about (51.1% completions, 15 TDs/15 interceptions), but he has experience, and once again, means Hue Jackson will not be forced to play the guy who will be the future of the franchise before he is ready.
All that is left is for the organization to resist any temptation to play the rookie if the 2018 starts poorly.
That’s a habit that needs to be broken.
There is now experience at the most important position on a football team, and credible people for the rookie to learn from.
That’s a welcome change from the past five seasons.
JD
Cleveland Sports Perspective 