The Cleveland Browns still don’t know who’s going to be their starting quarterback in Week 1.
Most signs point to Joe Flacco getting the nod, especially after Kenny Pickett’s recent hamstring injury.
Nevertheless, Alex Kay of Bleacher Report doesn’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
If anything, he thinks that it could propel a strong competition between highly motivated signal-callers.
That’s why he thinks that their quarterback conundrum is actually the biggest reason this team shouldn’t be overlooked right now:
“Plethora of Quarterback Options,” Kay wrote. “While Cleveland’s quarterback room may be crowded after the organization drafted both Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, signed Joe Flacco and traded for Kenny Pickett, the fierce competition among these players isn’t a bad thing. It should instead result in the team boasting its most competent passer since Baker Mayfield departed after the 2021 campaign. It remains to be seen who will emerge as the QB1 here, but iron sharpens iron during training camp and the Browns are set to finally enter a season with a competent option under center after years of ineptitude.”
Of course, this makes sense on paper, but we’re still talking about a mediocre quarterback room on paper.
Pickett has been average at best since he entered the league, and there were major questions about him even when he was a star in college.
Dillon Gabriel spent a lot of time in college and was often projected to be a backup at the next level, up to the point where he wasn’t even on some team’s big boards.
As for Shedeur Sanders, he’s always had a huge fan base and platform, but his tape is as unimpressive as his numbers or his physical tools.
Last but not least, Joe Flacco is entering his 18th season and has always had turnover issues.
On paper, this could and should bring the best out of everybody, especially because being the starter in Week 1 doesn’t mean that player will get to be the starter all year long.
But a highly motivated mediocre quarterback is still a mediocre quarterback at the end of the day.
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