The Cleveland Browns are back where they belong once again. Now, what do they do? With their loss to the Chicago Bears Sunday, the Browns officially earned the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. That’s no big deal to them as they had it last year but who will the Browns select? With so many holes to fill, many have the Browns going after another quarterback, but that might not be the best choice.
The Browns are in a tough spot and have no one to blame but themselves. In the last four years, the Cleveland Browns have selected three quarterbacks they thought were going to lead the team into the future. It started with Johnny Manziel in 2014, then Cody Kessler in 2016, and last year they selected DeShone Kizer. Manziel is no longer in the NFL, Kessler is still around but was replaced with a revolving door that included Kizer.
While Kizer has struggled this season, the Browns never gave him a fair shot. The offense was awful, however, when Josh Gordon returned, there was a little spark. It’s one thing to have a quarterback stink it up while throwing to Julio Jones or Antonio Brown but when your top receiver is out the backfield (Duke Johnson), that’s a problem. While there are some interesting prospects coming out this draft, the Cleveland Browns must play it smart.
Working against the Browns is that they have won only four games total in the last three seasons. According to Yahoo Sports, top quarterback prospect, Josh Rosen of UCLA has stated he will stay in school to avoid being selected by the Browns in 2018. Sorry to tell you Rosen, but even if that happens, who you think will be there in 2019? Surely it won’t be the New England Patriots. But fear not Rosen, the Browns don’t need you anyway.
One of the biggest issues with the Browns is patience. They seem to have very little of it. Some quarterbacks take at least a season or two to develop and the Browns have not awarded that to anyone they have picked for the position. Yes, Kizer has struggled but so did Jared Goff and Blake Bortles in their early goings with their respective teams. What it boils down to is coaching and playmakers.
Browns secure No. 1 pick of 2018 #NFLDraft: https://t.co/lUaMXH1oPL pic.twitter.com/19Po3VeUAr
— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2017
The Browns must draft players to help Kizer improve. To keep selecting quarterback after quarterback each year to a losing team does no good. Kizer wants to play for the Browns and according to reports, he’s the only quarterback who wants to play in Cleveland. Give him a full season instead of yanking him when he makes a mistake. Josh Gordon is back, the ground game was consistent, and Kizer just needs to be groomed and surrounded by quality skilled players.
The thinking in Cleveland might be that Rosen or Lamar Jackson could turn the team around, but with what? Goff did a complete turnaround but he also has solid players in Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and a stellar defense. The Browns are still working on that.
A rebuild takes time and as long as the Browns keep playing Russian roulette with the lead position on the team, they will keep shooting themselves in the head. Their best course of action is to do exactly what the Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars did. Build the defense up, then get quality offensive players in the later rounds.
Kizer is not a bad quarterback, he was just thrown into a bad situation. It’s up to the Cleveland Browns to get him out of it.