Cleveland Browns: The QB questions continue with the 2017 NFL Draft
By Joel W. Cade
The team-building question merges into the question of how to most effectively use the first overall pick. Do the Browns take the best overall player, thereby conforming to the “build the team first” model? Or do they take a quarterback in accord with the “build the team around a quarterback” model?
The importance of the quarterback position cannot be overstated. To win in the NFL today, a team must have an average-to-elite quarterback, and the more elite the quarterback the better. Yet, an average quarterback can take a well-built team to the Super Bowl.
Because of the correlation between having a franchise quarterback and wins, NFL teams put a premium on the quarterback position during player acquisition periods like free agency and the draft. The rule of supply and demand dictates the value.
The demand for franchise quarterbacks in the NFL is high. However, given the proliferation of non-pro-style offenses in the college football ranks, the supply is low. The skills necessary to compete at the NFL level are not taught in many college programs.
Quarterbacks regularly enter the draft having very little experience with NFL quarterback skill sets. They often have spent very little time under center, and often lack sufficient pocket awareness. Some lack the skills to call plays in a huddle or set a pass-protection. In many ways, NFL teams are starting at ground zero when developing a franchise quarterback out of college.
With the supply low and the demand high, is it any wonder NFL teams often pay a premium price (or overpay, reach, etc.) for a not-so-ready quarterback? These players may have all the physical abilities to be an NFL quarterback, but very few of those skills have been developed to the point where they can be successful.
In fact, it is safe to conclude that the NFL quarterback market is inflated. An inflated market increases the value of quarterbacks coming out of college. In terms of the draft, the reality is an NFL team must pay a premium (overpay/reach) for a developmental quarterback in relation to the value of the pick in which they are taken.
There are rare exceptions to the rule. In these cases, the exception proves the rule. The reality of today’s NFL is that any team wanting a quarterback in the draft must overpay or reach to get him.
This leaves us with the question of how should the Browns proceed with first overall pick.