The Browns may be moving on from Brandon Weeden

The Browns’ decision to start backup quarterback Brian Hoyer over injured starter Brandon Weeden makes perfect sense to anyone that’s observed the Browns over the past couple of seasons. So far in 2013, Weeden has been pretty poor, throwing for three interceptions and only one touchdown.

In a young man’s sport, it’s strange that the Browns’ second year quarterback is also older than the team’s fifth year backup quarterback. Hoyer is the younger quarterback by two years (almost exactly), and he has more experience in the NFL, although he’s only played in a total of 15 games.

It’s not known at this point whether Brandon Weeden could play this weekend or not, but I’m guessing he could if he had to. The fact that he hasn’t been publicly declared unable to play yet has still been pulled from the starting lineup seems to indicate the Browns are starting to look in different directions, and frankly, who can blame them?

The Browns will be in Minnesota to play the Vikings in a game that represents a must-win for a franchise that flounders year in and year out.

With 2013 already looking like a lost cause, the Cleveland Browns have to start thinking about evaluating the players they already have on their roster. Barring a major turnaround, it seems Brandon Weeden is not the answer for the team, and they’re likely trying to identify if Hoyer could be the future.

To drive that point home, the Browns chose to go with Hoyer over veteran Jason Campbell for a reason. Campbell is considerably older and has had his shot to lead various NFL squads with limited success. Hoyer represents an unknown on the Browns’ roster, and that unknown could be exactly what the team is looking for.

The Browns aren’t in full-blown rebuild mode just yet. Brandon Weeden will almost certainly get another crack at the starting job once he’s deemed able to return to action. Still, the Browns’ willingness to go to their youngest viable quarterback tells me change is coming soon if this season doesn’t get turned around quickly.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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