Training Camp Is Here, Let the QB Debate Continue

It’s that time of year. The time of year when Cleveland sports talk can go wild.

Yes, the Cleveland Browns will open training camp soon. In fact, the rookies have already reported to Berea to officially begin their NFL careers. And because it is northeast Ohio, Mason Graham, the fifth overall pick in last spring’s NFL Draft may be under less scrutiny than anyone picked that high will ever be focused on.

Because in this town, we are obsessed with who will play quarterback this season. Will it be one of two rookies, both drafted later in the selection process, one in Round three and the other in Round five?

Or will it be the 40-year-old former Super Bowl winner who rescued the 2023 season for Cleveland winning games down the stretch and taking the Browns to the playoffs?

Perhaps the Browns can turn to a former first round pick by the Steelers in 2022, who has a career record as a starter of 15-10, but last year was a backup for the Super Bowl champions?

Most likely, coach Kevin Stefanski’s choice will be one of the latter choices. It is hard to see him going with a rookie after last season’s 3-14 debacle.

Although Stefanski has guided the Browns to two playoff appearances in his five years at the helm, he and GM Andrew Berry should be on the hot seat after last year’s performance.

The scuttlebutt says they are safe, but it is difficult to see the pair surviving another year like 2024. And really, if Cleveland finishes 4-13 in ’25 and has a pair (they have Jacksonville’s first round pick from the draft day trade) of top ten picks, would you really want Berry making those selections?

We understand the speculation of “seeing what Kenny Pickett has” from the media, but if your job was on the line, and assuming Joe Flacco isn’t throwing the football to the defense on a regular basis in practice, wouldn’t you rather have the proven veteran under center to start the season?

We look forward to hearing about the daily progress of the rookies, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, how many completions out of how many throws in drills, and of course, the inevitable discussion of whether or not one of them should start after a solid performance in a pre-season game.

Because no doubt, they will play a lot in the exhibition contests. We are sure Pickett will also see some time, and perhaps Flacco will even make an appearance too, although we would expect him not to see the field all that often.

Everyone knows what Flacco can do by this point in his career.

Maybe Stefanski and Berry have been assured by ownership they are safe no matter what happens this season, and the 2025 campaign is all about getting clarification on the quarterback position before next year’s draft.

If so, that’s a bold choice from a franchise whose motto seems to be “free beer tomorrow”.

It would also be a slap in the face to veterans like Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, David Njoku, and others. Those guys want to win.

Our guess is Stefanski will want this edition of the Browns to run the ball, run the ball, and do more running of the ball and have Jim Schwartz work his magic with the defense to win football games, especially during the tough stretch to open the year.

Yep, it’s football time in Cleveland.

A Week Later, Taking Two QBs Is Still Puzzling

We still are puzzled by the Cleveland Browns’ draft and it is now over a week old.

We have been critical of the “collaborative process” that GM Andrew Berry always talks about because to us, there has to be a single person that sets the vision and philosophy of what Cleveland Browns football looks like.

And once again, the weirdness did not begin until late in day two.

Trading down to get Mason Graham? No problem there. We watched, like most people in Ohio, as Graham was a dominant figure in Michigan’s shocking win over the eventual National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Putting him next to Myles Garrett on the defensive line should pose a very strong front four for defensive coordinator Jim Schwarz.

UCLA LB Carson Schwesinger received some first round grades and could be a sign that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will not be ready to play this year.

We do not think Jerome Ford is an every down running back and actually have no problem drafting two. The running game is a staple of Kevin Stefanski’s offense, so taking Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson remakes the running back room.

FYI, we would still bring back Nick Chubb. The worst-case scenario (besides another 3-14 record) for the Browns is Chubb going elsewhere and still have something left in the tank. It may not be the best football move, but it would be great for the fan base, which has seen its share of mediocre football recently.

Also, TE Harold Fannin Jr. is another solid choice, another staple of the Stefanski offense is having two quality tight ends.

Of course, we are really getting at taking two quarterbacks. And we bet if there was a singular person in charge when whoever came up with the idea to take Shadeur Sanders just 50 selections after taking Dylan Gabriel, the football czar would have said no.

We envision those Progressive Insurance commercials with “Dr. Rick” with the doctor sighing and shaking his head when the idea is brought to him.

First off, the Browns need a quarterback, but they also could use offensive line help, another wide receiver, another edge pass rusher, and in today’s NFL, you can always use a cornerback.

But how is the team going to keep four quarterbacks on the roster? If winning games is the goal, and it should be, despite many media members in town wanting to write off the 2025 season, then Joe Flacco should be the starter for Game 1.

They traded for Kenny Pickett prior to the draft, and he is a former starter in the NFL. And we said coming into the draft, even if the Browns took a passer with the second overall pick, we wouldn’t let him touch the field until late in the ’25 campaign. At the earliest.

The point is the Browns had a solid draft until they decided to take two QBs, one of whom might be the most famous player in the draft. And that’s not a rap on Sanders, who we would have taken earlier.

It’s having two rookies on the roster at a position where only one can play.

And worse, the Browns have created this circus themselves. Perhaps that what they want, just like the Dallas Cowboys always want to seem to be in the news. But does that help you win?

More than likely, Browns’ fans will find out it doesn’t. But at least, it will be a collaborative process from the front office.

A Logical Browns’ Draft Goes Weird

We always say the easiest thing for an executive of a professional sports franchise can do is either start a rebuild by trading off valuable commodities for future pieces (draft picks or prospects).

The second easiest is to play for a year or two down the road. We always criticize the Cleveland Browns for their seemingly forever “free beer tomorrow” attitude, but it’s hard to criticize most of what they’ve done in this year’s NFL Draft.

When Jacksonville threw in a first round draft pick in 2026 to move up three spots and take the second overall selection, it became a no brainer for GM Andrew Berry.

Our guess is even though Berry talked about Travis Hunter in glowing terms at a press conference, he and the organization wasn’t in love with the player or with Abdul Carter, so they traded down to get another early second round selection and the additional first.

No doubt all Browns’ fans will be rooting against the Jaguars from day one of the ’25 season.

We thought Mason Graham at worst would be a quality defensive tackle in the NFL so we had no problem with that choice. With Graham and second year DT Mike Hall along with Myles Garrett, but defensive line should be solid for years to come.

Eyebrows were raised by taking LB Chase Schwesinger out of UCLA because the Browns usually ignore the position. But there was buzz about him going late in the first round and reports say he’s a tackling machine. It’s not as though the Browns don’t have a need there.

We aren’t enamored by Jerome Ford as the lead back for the Browns, so selecting Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State at #36 makes sense. Our bet is he will be the primary runner for Cleveland this season. And they added Dylan Sampson from Tennessee in the fourth round.

Remember, Kevin Stefanski likes to run the football, so the more quality runners the better.

The Browns play a lot of two tight end sets, so have a pair who need to be respected in the passing game also seems good. Harold Fannin from Bowling Green is a solid pass catcher who can team with David Njoku in “12” personnel.

We wanted the Browns to draft a QB, so first they took Dillon Gabriel who is maybe 5’11” and didn’t seem to be the best passer on the board. And guys like Shadeur Sanders, Quinn Ewers, and Will Howard were still available.

And then they took Sanders in the fifth round. Sanders is without question the better prospect behind center, so now what do the Browns do with two rookies at QB? Besides, it’s not as though Cleveland doesn’t have other needs. They could’ve used an edge rusher, an offensive lineman, a safety, to bolster positions in which they need help.

What looked like a sound reasonable draft turned into a “what the heck are they doing” draft. There was certainly no reason to take two QBs, if they wanted Sanders, they could have taken him when they took Gabriel.

It’s not a rap on Gabriel, it simply makes no sense to take both.

We heard a radio talker discussing the first overall pick for the Browns in 2026. If they have it, it better be because Jacksonville went 2-15. No matter what happened in this draft, the Browns can’t go 3-14 again.

Someway, somehow, they need to win football games. It might be like 2023, when they leaned on the defense to do it.