Hue Jackson History Offers Big QB Hint For Cleveland Browns
By Erik Lambert
One of the biggest questions of the 2016 off-season that is certain to garner headlines is what the Cleveland Browns plan to do about their quarterback situation. While many still believe the team will use their #2 overall pick to draft the best one available, whether that’s Jared Goff of Cal or Carson Wentz of North Dakota State, signs are growing the team may be looking for alternate avenues.
Colin Kaepernick and the #Browns: 5 reasons it makes sense https://t.co/NC8m5tVqAU
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) March 15, 2016
Robert Griffin III met with the Browns today on an official visit, sources say. Now flying out of Cleveland but sounds like a good visit.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 19, 2016
It might be a surprise that the Browns have shown such significant interest in both Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III given they’ll probably have their choice of quarterbacks in the draft. It shouldn’t be though. For one, both players are still fairly young and have histories that involve good enough play to get their teams to the playoffs. However, the interest goes deeper than that. Right to head coach Hue Jackson.
The 50-year old first entered the NFL in 2001 as running backs coach for the Washington Redskins. He became offensive coordinator in 2003 and has since held that job or the title of head coach with four different teams. In that entire time he has shown a general lack of interest in developing younger quarterbacks.
Perhaps he lost a taste for it in 2003 when second-year man Patrick Ramsey, a former 1st round pick of the Redskins the year before, failed to progress. Since then he’s never pushed his teams to draft a quarterback high. In 2007 he settled for a veteran in Joey Harrington rather than pushing for a Brady Quinn or Kevin Kolb in the draft.
The most telling situation that indicated Jackson’s thoughts on the position came when he joined the Raiders in 2010. Rather than go after a top quarterback in either the 2010 or 2011 drafts, he orchestrated a trade for then-Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer . The move didn’t work out. Palmer played just 10 games and threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
One could argue the general weakness of all the draft classes at the times Jackson was either coordinator or head coach might’ve compelled this trend, but the fact remains he has never once developed a rookie to have any sort of success in the NFL. His greatest career achievement came when he inherited an already proven player in Andy Dalton when he took over as offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.
Combine that with the urgency to win and it would explain why the Cleveland Browns head coach is showing considerable interest in more experienced options ahead of the draft.