Change in the NFL can come quickly. Check out pretty much every season and a team that finished with a poor record the year prior will rise up and make the playoffs, while a playoff team a year before sinks to the basement.
Last season, it was the Washington Commanders going from 4-13 to 12-5 and ultimately the NFC Championship game, while the Browns went the other way, an 11-6 record in ’23 followed by the 3-14 disaster last season.
The year prior, the Houston Texans went from 3-13-1 to 10-7 while Minnesota went from 13-4 in 2022 to a 7-10 mark the next year.
Yes, many times, it’s about getting the quarterback as with Houston (C.J. Stroud) and Washington (Jayden Daniels) and while that’s true, neither of those teams got their QB with the first overall pick, and the other question is it sustainable.
Other times, you think you have the quarterback, and the fan base thinks they have the guy, but they are wrong. Look at the mess in Miami and Arizona. Both teams thought they had the guy, but it doesn’t appear they were correct.
Look at the Chargers. They drafted Justin Herbert in 2020, and he’s probably a top ten QB in the league, but they’ve gone 7-9, 9-8, 10-7, 5-12, and 11-6 with him under center, making the playoffs twice. So, it’s not just the QB.
We bring this up because our local team, the Cleveland Browns, come up with one excuse after another as to why they don’t/can’t win, despite teams taking big jumps up the standings every year.
First, the team seems to believe they can only win by getting a franchise quarterback, and while that has some merit, the notion you can only get that guy by tanking and having the league’s worst record is simply not true.
Yes, Joe Burrow was drafted first overall, but how many of the other top ten QBs in the sport were taken in that spot? Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff. So, the majority of the best QBs in the NFL were not taken first overall.
And if you do get a chance to take a quarterback early in the draft, wouldn’t you want to surround him with a solid offensive line and some other offensive weapons?
Let’s say the Browns identify a QB in next year’s draft as they will likely have a top ten pick. What are you bringing him into? Your offensive line is aging and not very good. You have no real good wide receivers.
Your best weapons on offense are two rookies, RB Quinshon Judkins and TE Harold Fannin Jr. That’s it. And knowing the franchise, they will feel the need to play the rookie QB before he is ready. Just like they have done with Dylan Gabriel.
For all the front office likes to plan for the future (free beer tomorrow!), the truth is they have set themselves up poorly if the plan is to get the QB with their multiple first round picks next spring.
Based on all the other stuff they have mucked up in the last six years, we guess that’s to be expected, right?
The bigger question we guess is do they think they are fooling fans with their non-sense? They are good at making excuses for not winning. It’s also what they have the most experience doing.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 