Cleveland Browns scouting: 3 Quarterbacks who increased their stock after NFL Combine
By John Suchan
The Cleveland Browns could very well draft a quarterback and these three players are all in play so does the team take one of them?
Baker Mayfield is the Cleveland Browns quarterback, at least for one more season as he’s entering the last season of his rookie contract. The Browns have had a historically bad run of quarterbacks, some 30 or more of them in the starting role since the team started back in 1999.
That fact has been well documented. Mayfield has brought some stability to the position, now entering year number five as the starter. However, if you’re a Browns fan, you know that the subject of the quarterback and who should be leading this team on offense continues to be a very controversial topic moving forward.
With that, the Browns are likely looking at several quarterbacks that will be drafted coming up in April. The team currently holds the No. 13 pick in the first round. Rumors are swirling around this pick and what Cleveland will do — with some even suggesting that they could take a quarterback with the pick.
If they did that it would definitely indicate that the team will eventually want to go a different direction away from Mayfield. However, they could wait and take a quarterback in one of the later rounds of the draft. There have been quarterbacks that have succeeded in the NFL despite being drafted in the later rounds but that doesn’t happen very often. Tom Brady, the legendary and future Hall of Famer was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft so it can happen.
Let’s take a brief look at the three quarterbacks that the Browns likely see as their best options if they were to draft a quarterback.
Cleveland Browns Quarterback to Scout No. 1: Kenny Pickett, University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh quarterback is probably the most NFL ready to start at the beginning of the season. He was a four-year starter for the Panthers. He passed for 12,303 yards. Had a 62% completion rating. He had 81 touchdowns, which included 42 of those in his senior campaign.
He stands at 6-foot-3 and can play well from the pocket. If you’re concerned about his speed, don’t be because he ran the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.73 seconds, the third-fastest among the quarterbacks running at the Combine.
His accuracy, at 67% his senior year, and his ability to throw the deep ball well all make him a definite first-round pick for some NFL team. It would a shocking move by the Browns if they did draft Pickett at No. 13. If for some reason Cleveland decides to give up their early pick to move back a bit in the first round and Pickett was still there I might think the Browns would consider the move even then. I don’t expect that scenario to happen but stranger things have taken place at NFL Drafts in the past.