Who is Kyle Lauletta? 3 things to know about Cleveland Browns rising QB candidate

Thankfully, there is no quarterback controversy but there is a prospect with discussing for the Cleveland Browns at the position

When the Cleveland Browns were preparing to play their first preseason game last week, one surprise to me, even though I pride myself on “all knowing” when it comes to Browns news, was that the Browns would be rolling with journeyman and yet relatively unknown quarterback Kyle Lauletta for most of the game.

With Browns franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield resting his valuable arm, Case Keenum, the Browns current backup quarterback would begin the game at quarterback.

With Saturday’s kickoff about to launch, I didn’t really think I’d be writing my next story about a kid originally from Pennsylvania, who’s dad would have him “play up” in kid flag football when he was still a toddler.

Lauletta played very well this past Saturday in the Browns victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars and there is a faint, but legitimate whisper in the air to see exactly what this young kid can do in his next audition on Sunday down at First Energy Stadium when the Browns battle the New York Giants.

Since, I didn’t know much about Mr. Lauletta before this past weekend I started to dig up all that I could. Browns fans let’s find out more about this young player, who honestly raised a few eyebrows of our loyal Browns fan base.

The Richmond Spider

Lauletta grew up in Pennsylvania, having gone to Dowingtown East High School in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He had been recruited by Penn State initially but was never given a scholarship by them nor any other bigger college program.

So, he headed to the University of Richmond. Which is a Division I FCS school and only has a college student population of little more then 4,000 students.

At Richmond, Lauletta set school records in yards thrown with 10,465 and touchdowns with 73. When the lights were on the brightest, Lauletta seemed to have his better games. In a game against James Madison when he was a sophomore, he exploded by throwing for over 415 yards in a dual where Richmond landed on top in a high scoring affair 59-49.

In his junior year, his Spiders upset a bigger school of University of Virginia by throwing for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Granted that year Virginia had a lousy team and only won two games all season.

The pinnacle of his collegiate career happened in the Senior Bowl where he was named MVP of the game after throwing three touchdowns when he competed against players from those bigger college programs like Penn State.

Though he wasn’t playing for a more powerful football program, the NFL was paying attention. When the NFL Draft rolled around, he was eventually drafted by the New York Giants in the 4th round.