Will the Browns draft a quarterback with the fourth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft? Or will they pick a quarterback later in the draft?
According to Browns coach Mike Pettine, the answer to both of those questions could be, “Yes.”
Pettine said at the league meeting that it’s possible the Browns will draft two quarterbacks.
“This is a deep quarterback class, and that is why. It’s deep and it’s varied,” Pettine said.
If the Browns take a quarterback at No. 4, it would be Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel or Central Florida’s Blake Bortles. The Browns also own the Colts’ first-round pick, No. 26 overall, which could be used to take a quarterback like Fresno State’s Derek Carr or Eastern Illinois’s Jimmy Garoppolo. In later rounds they could go after Alabama’s AJ McCarron, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger, Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas or Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage.
It’s not that unusual for teams to take two quarterbacks in one draft. Indianapolis and Washington both drafted two quarterbacks in 2012: Indianapolis made Andrew Luck the first overall pick and Chandler Harnish Mr. Irrelevant, while Washington made Robert Griffin III the second overall pick and took Kirk Cousins in the fourth round.
Of course, sometimes drafting two quarterbacks just serves to give you two bad quarterbacks on your roster. In 2010, the Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen in the second round and Tony Pike in the sixth round. Less important than how many quarterbacks the Browns draft is whether one of them is good enough to be their starter of the future.