QB-starved Browns going hungry again

John Kampf

For a program that has not had a franchise quarterback since Bernie Kosar, the Browns sure operate on draft day like a team that has one.

For the second year in a row, the Browns have traded away from the opportunity to draft a reasonable candidate for a quarterback position that has been a carnivorous black hole since the team returned from exile in 1999.

The defensive deficiencies the Browns have?

Those were addressed with the first overall pick of the 2017 draft on April 27 with the selection of Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett.

He should immediately add some bite to a pass rush that accumulated only 26 sacks last year.

But with Deshaun Watson, the experienced, national championship quarterback from Clemson, staring them at the face when their No. 12 overall pick arrived, the Browns blinked. Again. The Browns dealt the No. 12 pick to Houston, dropping all the way down to No. 25, while adding Houston’s 2018 first-round draft pick.

Houston then took the quarterback the Browns could have — should have? — taken. Deshaun Watson. This comes a year after the Browns traded out of the No. 2 spot in the draft and an opportunity to take potential franchise quarterback Carson Wentz, who was snapped up by the Eagles after making the pre-draft trade with the Browns.

Will Wentz and Watson turn out to be franchise quarterbacks for the Eagles and the Texans?

That’s still up for debate.

What is not up for debate is that neither will do it for the Browns, a team that is still starving for a franchise quarterback.

This much we know about the Browns. They are exceptional at gathering draft picks.

We also know this. They aren’t real good at hitting on those picks.

In this Sashi Brown era

of analytics, maybe the analytical numbers suggest the Browns got a good deal by trading down and garnering another first round pick next year.

The analytical numbers that most relate to, though, are the ones that read 1-15, 3-13, 7-9, 4-12, and 5-11 — the Browns’ record over the past five years.

Even more eye-opening is the Browns’ record of 88-192 since the franchise came back to Cleveland after it left for Baltimore following the 1995 season.

The Browns have fielded 26 different starting quarterbacks since then. It will jump to 27 if/when Brock Osweiler steps under center this year.

That’s 27 starting quarterbacks over an 18-year span in which your team went 88-192.

File that into your analytics calculator and not only does it scream, “You need a franchise quarterback,” but it might grab the calculator out of your hand, smack you on the head with it and blurt, “You still don’t have a

franchise quarterback.”

It is hard, if not downright impossible, to argue with the selection of Garrett to start the draft.

Garrett is not only going to produce, but he also is going to make everyone else around him better as well. His presence on the defensive line doesn’t just mean sacks and quarterback pressures, but it means the guys lining up next to him — defensive tackle Danny Shelton, left end Emmanuel Ogbah and productive linebackers Jamie Collins, Demario Davis and Christian Kirksey should have more room to operate with blockers having to account for Garrett off the edge.

The guy they selected with the 25th pick they got from Houston - safety Jabrill Peppers from Michigan — fills a massive defensive deficiency, too, whether he’s at safety, linebacker or returning kicks.

But the quarterback void is still glaring.

Sure, Browns fans would have loved to have hometown boy Mitchell Trubisky guiding the

team. But the smart pick there was the best player in the draft.

When Chicago traded up to No. 2 and took Trubisky, that scenario evaporated.

And when Patrick Mahomes went No. 10 to Kansas City, which traded up to get the Texas Tech slinger, another potential quarterback option went off the board.

But with Watson there for the taking, the Browns turned around and walked the other way.

The same way they did trading away from opportunities to draft receiver Sammy Watkins in 2014 and receiver Julio Jones in 2011.

The Browns are pretty good at accumulating draft picks. But at some point they have to use those picks and get offensive playmakers.

One would think a team that this fall will use its 27th starting quarterback since 1999 would know that.

Reach Kampf at jkampf@ news-herald.com; @nhpreps on Twitter.