Cleveland Browns: Final 53-man roster prediction
By Randy Gurzi
Quarterback (3): Tyrod Taylor, Baker Mayfield, Brogan Roback
The most important position on any team is easily the one that starts under center. Cleveland fans know all too well that if you don’t have a trustworthy quarterback, there’s no way you’re winning ball games. This season, finally, the Browns have some trustworthy quarterbacks.
Tyrod Taylor is the starter and gives them a stable presence under center. He’s not elite and has a career-high of 3,035 passing yards in a season, but he’s a safe and reliable player. Taylor was 22-20 in three seasons as the starter for the Buffalo Bills. He completed 62.6 percent of his passes in that time and had a remarkable 51 touchdowns against just 16 interceptions.
Behind him is Baker Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Originally it looked as though the Browns wanted there to be no scenario where Mayfield saw the field during the 2018 season, but that stance has lightened. He looks to be the primary backup as he showed the game isn’t too big for him. Should Taylor get hurt, Mayfield may get a chance to shine.
With Mayfield winning the No. 2 spot, it makes Drew Stanton the odd man out. He threw just seven passes in preseason so there’s not much to go on other than speculation here. The fact is though, teams rarely keep a 34-year old quaretrback as the third option. That role is usually reserved for a younger player they hope can progress into a real player.
Next. Standouts from Preseason Week 4. dark
Enter Brogan Roback. The undrafted kid out of Eastern Michigan played well enough in Week 4 to earn the job over Stanton. He has more upside and makes sense as a developmental player to wworkwith the scout team.