Dawg Pound Daily
FanSided

Cleveland Browns: Mel Kiper lays out potential path to Trubisky

By Steven Kubitza

Nov 5, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) scores a touchdown on his forth quarter run against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 48-20. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) scores a touchdown on his forth quarter run against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 48-20. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Cleveland Browns are expected to draft Myles Garrett No. 1 overall, but they can still grab a franchise quarterback later in the first round.

The 2017 NFL Draft is a week from tomorrow, meaning we can finally stop talking about mock drafts and actually begin to focus on players who will suit up for the Cleveland Browns this season.

Barring anything crazy, it appears as if Myles Garrett is a sure thing to the Browns with the No. 1 overall pick. This is the Browns we are talking about, so anything can happen, but let’s assume Garrett is coming to Cleveland for the sake of this article.

That leaves the Browns with the No. 12 overall pick Thursday night, and plenty of ammunition to move up from that No. 12 spot if necessary. And if it comes down to wanting a quarterback, the Browns may need to make a trade to grab him.

A recent article on ESPN.com by Pat McManamon details a conference call with Mel Kiper in which the draft guru talked about how the Browns could grab their quarterback, which in his mind is Mitch Trubisky.

Related: O.J. Howard draft profile

Kiper doesn’t say he thinks Trubisky is worth a top-10 pick, but he does believe the Browns should make a move if they believe he can be great. From the article:

"“I think the only player you move up to get is if you believe Trubisky is the No. 1 quarterback in this draft and his grade on your board is high enough then he is the only player that would be worth jumping up from No. 12 to No. 3 to try and get.”"

No one knows how the future will play out for each player in the draft, but Kiper is right. If the Browns believe Trubisky is the top quarterback and can help this team, there is no reason why the Browns shouldn’t use some of the draft capital accumulated over the past year to draft him.

The Browns have been searching for a quarterback since the turn of the new millennium and have the chance to give a player a shot this year. Yes, the team has drafted quarterbacks in the first round in the past, but not since Tim Couch has the team committed to taking one early and actually giving him time to develop in the NFL.

It doesn’t matter if the top quarterback on their board is Trubisky or even Deshaun Watson, the Browns would be smart to trade up and grab a player who can come in and lead this team right away. And if they deem neither to be worthy that is fine too, but the team can’t sit on all this draft capital if they will regret not trading up in the future.

Owning over ten draft picks is nice, but the front office doesn’t want to continue fielding a roster filled with so much inexperience. They must use most of the picks, but there is no harm in trading some away if it means grabbing a qualified quarterback.

Next: Buying into Patrick Mahomes as the next QB1 for the Browns

No one knows if a player like Trubisky can turn this franchise around, but there is no harm in trying as opposed to the usual strategy of waiting until next year.

Home/Browns Draft