Cleveland Browns: 7-Round mock draft more exciting than Super Bowl LIII
By Cory Kinnan
Round 7, Pick 17: Gardner Minshew, QB, Washington State
How glorious it is to not be in desperate need for a quarterback for the first draft since the re-inception of the team in 1999. Although the need is not desperate or alarming, the Browns should be in the market for a backup to franchise quarterback Mayfield.
Expect Drew Stanton to be the backup quarterback for the Browns in 2019, but moving forward he is on the last year of his deal, the downside of his playing career, and is possibly more interested in coaching at this point. With that being said, a late-round investment in a quarterback who can be stashed on the practice squad for a season, then serve as the backup to Mayfield moving forward would be a wise investment for Cleveland.
Gardner Minshew, within arms length of becoming a Heisman finalist, is not touted as a quarterback prospect that can come in and turn any franchise around or deemed to even make a large impact on the league by any means. However, with a similar build and play style to Mayfield, he may be the perfect understudy to 6 and could very well land that role.
Minshew, the 2018 PAC-12 player of the year, threw for about 4,800 yards and 38 touchdowns after transferring into Washington State from East Carolina and had the Cougars battling for a conference championship throughout the entire season. The Browns should draft Minshew late in this draft, and stash the stache for one year on the practice squad and make him the future backup to Mayfield once Stanton’s time in Cleveland comes to an end.