Here's Why You Want the Browns to Get "Their Guy" NOW

[Shep]

Tough to say who'll come out number #1 in 2015 between Mariota and Winston, but I don't expect the Browns to be in the running. They just have too much young core talent, 10 draft picks, and among the most cap space in the league. Even if good-not-great Hoyer is the starter, I think the Browns will field better skill players (say, add Allen Robinson, Dion Lewis, and Carlos Hyde to Gordon and Cameron), upgrade their line (with a draft pick, Faulk, and Pinkston), and win way too many games to be in the top 10.

 

Frankly, in that scenario with 3-4 free agents and a bunch of other draft picks, the Browns could win 10 games. Not a shocker at all. They might not whiff the top 10 for a lot of years, actually.

 

But I think they'd be the Bengals, a team with crazy talent all over the field but only a good, low-ceiling quarterback. Even though they're 8-4, I don't see the Bengals going to a Super Bowl with Dalton, let alone winning one.

 

So what should the Browns do? Well, losing out would make the most long term sense, to be brutally honest and politically incorrect. Then hope that Derek Carr looks like the real deal in his bowl game against decent competition and again throughout Senior Bowl week. Oh, and hope that we either draft ahead of Jacksonville and Minnesota or can get ahead of them. A lot of draftnicks are starting to see Carr in the top 3-4 with Bridgewater, Clowney, and Jake Matthews. He's earned it. He's done literally everything you could ask this year, made good decisions and been accurate all over the field... on top of the cannon arm and great wheels.

 

But what if the Browns can't get to Carr? Next option, and it's a really intriguing one, is to draft Brett Hundley at #6 or #7 or wherever they land... IF he comes out. Everything said above still stands true: Hoyer starts, the Browns add several skill players (Hyde, Lewis, Robinson, a TE) and 3-4 serious free agent additions (mostly on defense, but maybe an OL) and win 10 games.

 

But instead of wondering if they'll ever get a franchise quarterback (and without one, they aren't REALLY Super Bowl contenders)... they have one ready to don the new duds in the upgraded stadium, a ceiling-free potential star who knows the offense in Brett Hundley.

 

Third option? My favorite is probably Jimmy Garoppolo in the 2nd round, trading down from two or up from three... or maybe just taking him with our current 2nd round pick to be safe. Screw "reach," it's quarterback and if you love him and think he could be your guy for 10 years, you don't risk missing out on him.

 

After two years, maybe you have Tony Romo without the choke factor (!).

 

[miktoxic]

thanks for the double threads.

 

maybe start one again in march 2014.