Browns Handling QB Correctly. Finally.

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.

Browns’ Reboot Begins Big Time

As NFL teams started making moves last week, the cynics out there were making subtle jabs at Browns’ GM John Dorsey for not being involved.

On Friday, Dorsey basically told those people to shut up.

The GM started the procedure to get the brown and orange to a competitive level with a trio of moves and left the five picks the organization has accumulated in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft intact.

First, he traded a 4th this year and a 7th in 2019 to Miami to get WR Jarvis Landry, a three time Pro Bowler. The Dolphins are over the salary cap and wanted to dump the receivers’ salary and Dorsey was happy to take him off Miami’s hands for a relatively cheap price.

Landry was averaged 100 catches per season in his four years with the Dolphins and gives the Browns a reliable target, one who will catch the football.

True, Miami targeted him a lot, and his average yards per catch is low, but he is only 25 years old and to get him for nothing higher than a fourth rounder is a feather in the new GM’s cap.

Next Dorsey showed he’s the guy in charge of things in Berea by trading the 65th overall pick next month for QB Tyrod Taylor.

Taylor is the perfect bridge quarterback for the Browns, holding the position for whoever the team selects with the first overall pick in April. And make no mistake, they will pick the future franchise QB in the draft.

Taylor is the antithesis of what Browns’ fans have seen over the past two seasons, meaning he takes care of the football.

He’s 29 years old, has a 22-20 record as a starter (with Buffalo), and he led the league in interception percentage last season at 1.0%.

He’s not a gunslinger, barely throwing for over 3000 yards in his best yardage years, but he does not make the crucial mistake. Plus, he’s mobile too, rushing for more than 427 yards in each of his three seasons as the Bills’ starter.

He will allow whatever rookie is drafted to sit and watch for awhile. Fans who think this trade will give Cleveland the option of not drafting a QB with the first overall pick are crazy.

It also shows the GM is in charge as the team didn’t go after Hue Jackson’s guy, A.J. McCarron.

And with the next move Dorsey made, the Browns might be looking for another passer too.

He sent last year’s starter DeShone Kizer to Green Bay for CB Damarious Randall, a former first round pick, and a swap of draft picks in the 4th and 5th rounds.

The best thing for Kizer is to watch for awhile, and he will get that opportunity in Green Bay. Even if Taylor were to get hurt this season, it wouldn’t have been good for the Browns to put Kizer back in.

His confidence had to have been shattered by last season’s disaster.

Randall has started 30 games in the NFL in three seasons, picking off 10 passes, and defending 32 more.

He is the first piece in rebuilding a secondary that is currently a weakness for the Browns. We believe another piece will be added with one of the five picks Cleveland has in the firs two rounds, and also with a high priced free agent, maybe the Rams’ Trumaine Johnson.

There are rumors that Randall may be moved to free safety with the Browns, who have said Jabril Peppers will move to strong safety.

It was a day the Browns started to get better, and there are rumors another big move will come before the free agent signing period gets under way.

The asset accumulation period is over, and the talent acquisition phase has kicked in for the Cleveland Browns. Hopefully, the days of one win in two years are over.

Browns Need To Address QB…Now!

If you have read this site in the past few months, you know that we are not in the group who believe the Cleveland Browns need to take a quarterback with the first overall pick in this spring’s NFL Draft.

We will stand by our opinion that Texas A & M pass rusher Myles Garrett should be the pick at #1.

However, that doesn’t mean the Browns should not address the quarterback position before the 2017 season starts, either.

We have had the opinion in the past that the Cleveland Browns are like the sign in a bar, “free drinks tomorrow”. The front office has told you in the past that they will be good next year.

However, he have heard some in the media saying the Browns should go defensive in this draft and put off looking for a passer in the 2018 draft.

No, no, no, no, no, NO!!!!

Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta will never, repeat never, have more draft capital than they have right now. They have five choices in the first 65 picks in April. One of them should be used to draft a QB, or at least used in a trade to get the signal caller this franchise can build around.

Perhaps it would be dealing the first pick in the second round to New England to get Jimmy Garoppolo. We realize some in the media would give up the first overall pick to get Tom Brady’s back up, but we believe #33 and perhaps a pick in the first three rounds of the ’18 draft would be enough to get the former second round pick.

Or, the Browns could use the #12 overall choice to draft Mitch Trubisky or Deshaun Watson from the college ranks, and start to develop the selection as the guy to build the franchise around.

In that case, you start the regular season with Cody Kessler as the starter and bring along the rookie to be able to hit the field in the second half of the regular season, or perhaps the beginning of the ’18 campaign.

Those would be our preferences.

Why not a guy like Tyrod Taylor or Jay Cutler? It’s simply a factor of the known vs. the unknown.

Garroppolo, Trubisky, or Watson may turn out to be busts, but they also could wind up being top ten QB’s in the NFL.

The reason people have made for Taylor and/or Cutler is that they are better than the current Browns’ quarterbacks. That’s not setting the bar very high, and if you have five picks in the top 65 selections in the draft, you have to have the mindset that you are going to find the right guy.

Taylor is 27 years old, and is a great athlete. But is he a difference maker at QB?

He’s started 28 NFL games and has had one 300 yard passing game.

His average yards per attempt ranked 22nd in the league in 2016, although he was 11th in 2015. His reputation is that he makes a lot of safe throws and doesn’t turn the ball over. Thus, the dreaded “game manager” label.

The point on Taylor and/or Cutler is if you ranked all of the NFL quarterbacks, they would probably both rank in the bottom ten in the league.

If you are going to take a shot on getting the QB, you have to aim higher than someone who will be in the bottom third of the NFL.

It may not work out, but you have to take the shot.

And you have to take the chance now. No more postponing the decision for another year. It’s time to get the guy who can lead the Cleveland Browns in the future. They have the picks to get it done now.