Cleveland Browns QB woes will end soon — believe it or not
By Mike Lukas
Believe it or not, the woes at the quarterback position will end soon for the Cleveland Browns.
On a recent episode of NFL.com’s Good Morning Football, chipper host Kay Adams starts a game of ‘Believe it or Not’ with the show’s roundtable of co-hosts and the topic is:
Believe it or not: The Browns Quarterback woes will finally be put to an end.
Their answers lined up perfectly with the way a lot of Cleveland Browns fans seem to feel about the QB drafting subject, at least the ones that make their opinions known online these days.
For instance, some Dawg Pounders appear to be (foolishly?) optimistic about the 2018 team’s potential number one pick despite the many years of Browns off-season lies and over-hyped quarterback letdowns up to this point.
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Co-host Nate Burleson’s passion-based answer might please them. He starts by saying:
"“I do believe that the Browns QB woes will be put to an end.”"
Then the former NFL wide receiver proceeds to tell a story that explains his answer further. At the beginning of his stint with the struggling 2010 Detroit Lions he got a comment from one of their starting cornerbacks (who he refused to name) reacting to his one year contract deal.
"When I got there [the cornerback] says, “Nate, I was reading the paper…and saw that you signed…I thought that it was wrong.” “What do you mean?” And he said, “This [the Lions] is where player’s careers come to die.”"
Then Burleson essentially makes the point that for an NFL team like the 2018 Browns or those 2010 Lions to successfully make a culture change from losers to winners it takes a quarterback saying this isn’t a pit stop.
Burleson, a man who was in plenty of NFL locker rooms over his decade-long pro football career, believes that no matter which quarterback the Browns draft:
"“he will change whatever needs to be changed in that locker room.”"
Except weren’t Kizer, RGIII, McCown, Osweiler, Weeden, Hoyer, McCoy, Shaw, Davis and Johnny Football all supposed to do that for the Browns, too? Unfortunately, Burleson runs out of time before he can explain exactly how this year’s new guy will handle it differently than all those others.
Now if you’re the kind of Browns fan who prefers more proof with your pudding, co-host Peter Schrager’s pragmatic answer might be more for you. First he says:
"“I believe [the Browns QB woes situation] does change.”"
Then as proof he points out that brand new general manager John Dorsey and his all-star assistants (Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith) now make up a Browns front office that finally has some successful player evaluation skills under their collective belts.
And they actually have plenty of draft picks later this month to prove their crew’s worth. As further proof, Schrager lists the talent this front office has already procured through trades and free agency: Jarvis Landry, Carlos Hyde and Tyrod Taylor, all excited to be Browns.
"“This is a different Cleveland Browns team. And if I’m Sam Darnold, I’m dying to go to Cleveland because I could actually finally build something. And I could be the guy that brings them from the ashes. He should feel lucky to be the first pick.”"
True, Peter, but let’s not oversell Sam here, since plenty of smart people still consider Baker or one of the Josh’s a better pick.
Of course, most Browns fans are completely and utterly tired of believing all the off-season hype that’s been thrown at them each year since 1999 only to watch every new ‘answer’ turn into a dozen more ‘questions’ game after game, loss after loss.
Co-host Kyle Brandt’s blunt answer may satisfy those doubters.
"“Same coach, right? 1-31 in two years? I want so badly for this to happen, but they haven’t earned the right of me saying, ‘yeah, it’s going to happen’.”"
Exactly.
Brandt points out that it will be hard to believe whatever great things coach Hue Jackson says about the future of whatever young quarterback is drafted. He notes that all three quarterbacks in what last year Jackson called ‘a great young quarterback room’ – DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler, Brock Osweiler – are now gone.
Believe it or not, in less than three weeks the Browns franchise quarterback woes could be gone.
Next: Browns draft profile: Saquon Barkley
But unless Dorsey and Jackson and Taylor’s gang can shift the Browns losing culture with some 2018 wins, then it really doesn’t matter what anyone believes.