Top of the draft places Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders in awkward spots

Five facts:

1. This NFL draft features very few top-tier players worthy of obsessing over.

2. This NFL draft features three quarterbacks many feel are worthy of being picked in the top 10.

3. You can’t win in this league without a quarterback.

4. The Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders both need quarterbacks.

5. The Browns and Raiders have both invested deeply in failed franchise quarterbacks in recent years (Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn / Matt Schaub, Matt Flynn, Carson Palmer, Terrelle Pryor).

It’s awkward, because, according to Neil Paine at FiveThirtyEight.com, if the Browns and Raiders were to both take quarterbacks in the top five this May, those two teams will have devoted more of their draft resources over a 10-year period to the quarterback position than anyone else in football.

And it’s not even close.

spent

That’s based on FootballPerspective.com’s draft value chart.

“But as the Browns and Raiders have discovered,” wrote Paine, “it’s easy to fall into a vicious cycle: Draft a highly touted quarterback, watch as he performs poorly, draft another quarterback, repeat ad infinitum.”

So do Cleveland and Oakland keep swinging the bat even if they aren’t in love with Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles or Johnny Manziel? This is a deep draft for quarterbacks and teams like Philadelphia (Nick Foles), Seattle (Russell Wilson) and San Francisco (Colin Kaepernick) have recently found franchise quarterbacks outside of Round 1.

Last month, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell spoke candidly about the difficult debate regarding when and how to draft a potential franchise quarterback:

“In today’s day and age, if you can’t get Peyton Manning or Matt Ryan, and they might not be available for the next 10 or 15 years, then you have to adapt and build the roster and do what’s best for the organization. And if a quarterback presents itself later in the draft, you take and develop him. Having a franchise guy makes the world a lot easier, though. It can erase a lot of mistakes you make. But if you force it, you can screw it up. I don’t know if we’re going to find that guy, but I hope we do.”

Don’t be surprised if that surprisingly non-quarterback-centric mentality rubs off on fellow quarterback-needy teams. The Browns aren’t feeling the pressure to go quarterback in the No. 4 spot. In fact, Cleveland brass didn’t even plan on attending Manziel’s Pro Day this week.

“I don’t think we’re compelled to pick a quarterback at No. 4,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said Monday, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal. “We don’t know that yet. The draft is May 8, so it’s still six, seven weeks [away], and Ray and his team and [coach Mike Pettine] and his team have a lot of work to do between now and then.”

The dilemma won’t die…until either team finds a quarterback they’re comfortable with.

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

Quantcast