Cleveland Browns Quarterback Position

Hurl Bruce said:

Looks like next year's draft class will be headed by a trio from the B1G in Cardale, Connor Cook, and Hackenberg. Throw in Kessler from USC, TCU's Trevon Boykin, and maybe Dak Prescott, and there seems to be a much deeper class of QBs to choose from.

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Yuck.

Dating back to late-March, many in the NFL didn't see the Browns as major players for Mariota. The trade value for Manziel has been non-existent and developing two raw prospects has no successful precedent. There were times in the past 25 years one of the two QB prospects became a success, but never both. At least one has always ended up a wasted pick, sometimes both.

The Mary Kay Cabot tweet on Saturday supported the idea the "Browns are on the hook for Manziel at least one more year" statement that I had heard earlier. The Cabot tweet basically said developing Manziel will be enough work, two at the same time isn't realistic.

The move I wanted to see was a better veteran upgrade than McCown and Lewis, someone who has shown more sustained success. Alas, that just didn't happen. Now we will see if this plan, which gives Manziel the starting gig with minimal resistance from a competitive quarterback will work. I personally have grave doubts.

Pettine on Bull and Fox said it's fair to say mccown will go into camp as the starter.

Not ground breaking but refreshing to hear the coach answer the question and not hedge.

spydy13 said:

Yuck.

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Yep

Quarterback ratings change a lot in the in the season leading up to when they are supposed to be drafted.

Hackenberg is the one I'm most curious about going into the season. I think the new offense of Franklin was a terrible fit for him. Curious to see if they make some adjustments there.

Cardale Jones is really over-hyped due to winning the championship, imo.

Pretty much know what Connor Cook gives you at this point. Solid prospect.

I haven't seen enough of the other guys.

Class looks ugly next year, honestly.

Boykin is a non-prospect for me right now, he'd have to make a pretty sizable jump.

Prescott is a non-prospect, there is not much there outside of size and running ability.

Jones has three collegiate starts, that's a non-starter for me as a guy who is anywhere near close to playing in the league.

Kessler is probably my favorite in the senior class, followed by Connor Cook and Kevin Hogan who I'd consider myself to be lukewarm on at best.


In the Junior class, Mitch Leidner and Paxton Lynch are two guys who could take huge jumps into the conversation this year.

Leidner was the best NFL QB prospect I saw in the Big Ten last season. He's got a ton of growth potential and really good athleticism.

Will be the best QB class in years, honestly.

If it were up to me, Manziel would be given every single rep from day 1, start every game and he would definitively sink or swim.

If he sinks (seems most likely), then you're likely gonna be 3 or 4 wins which should be enough to draft the best QB (hopefully) in 2016. If he swims at all, the rest of the team is good enough we're they'll probably win 6-7 and in the very unlikely even he actually shows something, you could win 8 or 9.

That said, Pettine isn't in the business of gambling his own future on Johnny Manziel's development. I think he'd rather squeeze every single victory he can out of McCown than worry at all about Manziel's development or lack thereof.

I believe Pettine would rather go 6-10 with McCown and not learn a single thing about where Manziel is at than go 3-13 with Johnny because that difference in wins might be enough for ole Jimbo to fire him.

CBBI said:

I believe Pettine would rather go 6-10 with McCown and not learn a single thing about where Manziel is at than go 3-13 with Johnny because that difference in wins might be enough for ole Jimbo to fire him.

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At least with Johnny playing you can blame it on QB development. If you go 6-10 with a vet, it just looks bad.

This draft signaled to me that Farmer and Pett feel comfortable with being able to build a team over time and that there isn't a rush to get great. I think they want Johnny to have to earn the starting spot by beating out McCown, but I think they plan for him to be their starting QB for a majority of the year so they can see if he sinks or swims as you said.

AZ_ said:

Class looks ugly next year, honestly.

Boykin is a non-prospect for me right now, he'd have to make a pretty sizable jump.

Prescott is a non-prospect, there is not much there outside of size and running ability.

Jones has three collegiate starts, that's a non-starter for me as a guy who is anywhere near close to playing in the league.

Kessler is probably my favorite in the senior class, followed by Connor Cook and Kevin Hogan who I'd consider myself to be lukewarm on at best.


In the Junior class, Mitch Leidner and Paxton Lynch are two guys who could take huge jumps into the conversation this year.

Leidner was the best NFL QB prospect I saw in the Big Ten last season. He's got a ton of growth potential and really good athleticism.

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Yeah, unless Cardale starts this whole year and looks great I don't know how a team could draft him in the 1st as some are projecting. That's ultimately why I think he made a massive blunder by not coming out because he probably could have been pushed to the 2nd by the hype train.

That being said, of that group, unless guys prove otherwise this year, I would still be most interested in Cardale because of the skills he has shown in his brief time, but I wouldn't take him til the 3rd or 4th knowing that he will need years of development.

Cardale is obviously going to start.

Pretty shocked no one has mentioned Jared Goff yet.

He, IMO, is probably the best QB in next year's class.

Chris said:

Cardale is obviously going to start.

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You think so? I was pretty disappointed with his Spring game performance.

I still see J.T. as the front runner for the job if he gets healthy.

But I guess this is a discussion for another thread.

Chris said:

Cardale is obviously going to start.

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Not obvious at all, honestly.

Amherstcavsfan said:

Pretty shocked no one has mentioned Jared Goff yet.

He, IMO, is probably the best QB in next year's class.

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Definitely an oversight on my part, he's a guy who can make a big jump this year as well.

Just wish he got a bit more coaching on mechanics and footwork. Not a huge fan of his coach.