Another year, another new quarterback for the Cleveland Browns; this has been a pattern for as long as most current NFL fans can remember.
The Browns absolutely need a new quarterback as the Johnny Manziel experiment has failed and Luke McCown is far from a franchise quarterback. This does not mean the Browns need to use a 1st round pick on one; think about it, in recent memory how many successful 1st round quarterbacks have there been?
The answer less than the number that were taken, the Browns have a 50/50 chance at drafting their future franchise quarterback regardless of what round they take him in. This is why providing weapons for their quarterback to succeed or an added boost for this defense may make a lot more sense. People tend to overvalue quarterbacks, there is this notion that a brand new franchise quarterback will turn things around but as the Tennessee Titans found out last season, if you cannot protect your quarterback you cannot win games.
On the flip side the Browns do not really have a quarterback now they want to invest in besides of course the ill-fated Manziel so now they will have to choose between Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, or Paxton Lynch and none of them are sure fire stars.
There are only a handful of teams that would use their first round pick on a quarterback (Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and Houston Texans) and this is not even accounting for what will happen with Brock Osweiler, Sam Bradford, or Kirk Cousins in free agency. This means if the Browns went and selected the best player available they would likely be able to draft either Christian Hackenberg, Connor Cook, or Paxton Lynch in the second round.
There are a lot of if's in that scenario however if might be the most sound when it comes to rebuilding this franchise. A wide receiver is too high to go at number 2 overall and the Browns can bolster their defense through free agency if need be. The main question will it be Carson Wentz or Jared Goff that is selected?
Wentz has been a media darling as he has skyrocketed up draft boards and maybe the combine can push him over the edge but for right now Goff is the better player. The Browns will likely go for the splash pick and take the best quarterback available however they should do everything in their power to put him in a position to succeed.
