It would seem for the Cleveland Browns in recent history that they are cursed at the quarterback position. They have spent several draft picks on them, including Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, and the infamous Johnny Manziel in the past few years.  Quinn is now probably spending his seasons on the couch.  Weeden has been bouncing around different backup jobs.  Manziel has been voted quarterback most likely to wind up beside Aaron Hernandez before long.  The good news for the Browns is that all of those quarterbacks were not taken quite as early as where they are picking this year.

Without a doubt, the Cleveland Browns need to again spend a draft pick on a quarterback.  The fan base has to be tired of seeing different players in the signal caller position, and they need to do something to remedy that.  No, there is not a clear cut franchise QB like Andrew Luck available, but there are a few other options.  Jared Goff out of California seems to be the favorite at this time.  There is also a lot of argument for Carson Wentz out of North Dakota.  With new coach Hue Jackson coming in, taking one of these two and taking the time to develop them like he did with Andy Dalton last year would be huge.

It can also be argued the Browns need a lot of help on defense, as they allowed a painful 27 points per game (ranked 29^th) and 379 yards per game (ranked 27^th).  However, with a quarterback out there that is actually capable of getting a couple of first downs before being steamrolled off of the field by opposing defenses, the Browns defense should be able to breathe a little bit and start to improve.  I would strongly suggest of course that after they nab their new franchise QB, they focus their next few rounds on the defense.

There is a little bit of hope for them on the offensive side of the football beyond that QB position.  Gary Barnidge stormed onto the scene as one of the best tight ends in the game.  He racked up 79 catches and over 1,000 yards receiving despite having to play with underperforming quarterbacks all year.  He also turned 9 of those into touchdowns.  Travis Benjamin also seemed to turn a corner, with 68 catches and 966 receiving yards.  If the Browns can finally get Josh Gordon to straighten out his act they could quickly turn into a significant offensive force.  In 2013 Gordon had 87 catches for 1,646 yards in just 14 games, but has not been on the field much at all since then due to multiple run-ins with the law.  It is predicted that he could be reinstated this year, which would be huge for the Browns.  They would get a top wide receiver to go along with the quarterback they draft at number 2, and hopefully start to become less of a laughing stock for the league.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com

Cover photo courtesy of nbcsports.com