Colt McCoy Now Favored to Remain Browns Starting QB: Truth or Smokescreen?

Today news came out that now that the team has missed on trading up for Robert Griffin III the team seems intent on moving forward with Colt McCoy as their starting quarterback.

Holmgren said Thursday that he trusts in the system the Browns have in place and believes McCoy has plenty of room for growth in that system, especially with a full offseason this year.

“We will stick with our system,” Holmgren said, via the News-Herald. “The big thing is learning the system. I think in the second year of the system you will see more productivity from the offense. We’re not going to change it, but it takes times to get good at it. If you can stick with your quarterback and you stick with the system and you stick with the coaches in the program, it works. You just have to trust me on that.”

Browns General Manager Tom Heckert is also talking up McCoy.

“We do think Colt has a big ceiling,” Heckert said. “It’s my job to get better players surrounding him. After the season, we said we have to protect him better. We have to be able to run the football, which we did at times last year. If you look at the games when we ran well and protected well, Colt played very well. Colt has proven he can play in this league. As Coach Holmgren said, another year in the system and we get him better players, he has a chance to be really good.”

Holmgren has a real reputation of believing in his system and finding “gems” at quarterbacks which gives this statement more punch than it might from another front office type. It is also reported that the Seahawks and Dolphins have shown more interest in Matt Flynn than the Cleveland Browns have, so this could be the truth. The Browns could really be looking forward to building their roster talent and depth and seeing what McCoy could do with another year. What can not be ruled out though is the Browns targeting and drafting a quarterback they like in round two. Maybe they fall in love with Brandon Weeden or a Kirk Cousins.

There are those out there who argue that McCoy deserves another year and it’s the weapons around him that are the problem. I’ve been consistent in saying that the Browns have drafted 3 WR in the second round in the last few years and that a really good quarterback probably makes something out of those players. They also have Josh Cribbs who isn’t a great WR perse but a weapon. Moving forward with McCoy might not be such a bad move. If he success-good for the Browns. If he flops they would have used two first round picks on other positions and will be picking high again next year where they could target a QB like Matt Barkley (if high enough), Tyler Bray, Tyler Wilson, Aaron Murray, Logan Thomas, Landry Jones or whomever might emerge as the top quartebacks for next year.

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