Cleveland Browns: A Breakdown of The QBs They Passed On

The Cleveland Browns aren’t the only team that has had big problems at the quarterback position for a long time. Several decades in fact.

The Chicago Bears are certainly competition worth discussing. However, the depths to which the Browns have plummeted in both the drafting and handling of this position has reached lows nobody thought possible. Already three different men have played under center this year and none of them did so because of an injury to another player. It really feels like the Browns are desperate at the position and have lost all patience.

So perhaps this might be a good time to explore back to the dawn of the millennium and go over again just how pitiful they’ve been at recognizing quality quarterback talent. This means superstars and dependable starters alike. This is not meant to torture Browns fans. It’s meant to educate people on how difficult it actually is to get a top passer in the NFL.

In the interests of fairness no quarterbacks will be included after the 1st and early portions of the 2nd rounds. That’s because once it gets later in a draft other teams should share the blame for missing on those quarterbacks. So Tom Brady, Dak Prescott and Russell Wilson will not feature on the list. Even so that won’t make a lot of Browns fans feel any better.

• Chad Pennington (2000)
• Drew Brees (2001)
• Ben Roethlisberger (2004)
• Aaron Rodgers (2005)
• Ryan Tannehill (2012)
• Teddy Bridgewater (2014)
• Derek Carr (2014)
• Carson Wentz (2016)
• Deshaun Watson (2017)

One of the glaring issues throughout this ride down nightmare lane is that the Browns consistently refused to invest in a quarterback high. Always it was settling for a mid-round pick or trading back before taking one in the late 1st or 2nd rounds. Rather than take Roethlisberger in 2004, they settled for Luke McCown in the 4th. Instead of Rodgers in the 1st they liked Charlies Frye in the 3rd for 2005.

They traded back in 2014 and still could’ve had Bridgewater or Carr. Instead they took Johnny Manziel. No Wentz in 2016. They’re good with Cody Kessler in the 3rd. Last but certainly not least, they waste two 1st rounders in 2017 on defenders, allowing Watson to land softly in Houston while they went for DeShone Kizer in the 2nd. A man they’ve since benched twice.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Desperation Leads To QB Avalanche

It’s really hard to understand how a team has missed that badly and in that many different ways. Is it bad luck or hiring the wrong people? Likely a combination of both, and Browns fans are the ones bearing the brunt of it.