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NFL reporter predicts early QB decision for Cleveland Browns
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- NFL reporter predicts early QB decision for Cleveland Browns
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Cleveland Browns rookies report to training camp on July 18. Four days later, veterans arrive in Berea, Ohio for another season under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
With the team set to have a competition for their starting quarterback job, Browns training camp figures to deliver some of the most intriguing storylines this summer. Soon enough, Joe Flacco , Kenny Pickett , Dillon Gabriel , and Shedeur Sanders will all be battling to become a starter, but how long will it take the Browns to make a decision?
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Recently, Sports Illustrated's NFL expert Albert Breer predicted that Cleveland would want to come to an early resolution when it comes to naming a starter, largely because it would allow the QB to maximize his chances to receive as many first-string reps as possible. Considering how competitive the AFC North has been as of late, Breer's idea makes a lot of sense.
"I'd guess Stefanski and Rees will want to narrow the competition early on, just to get the other guys on offense more work with quarterbacks who are truly in the running to lead the team as it navigates that brutal early schedule. There's also the matter of what type of offense they'll play—Pickett and Gabriel, for example, would have more elements keying on their athleticism than Flacco or Sanders would—that needs to be figured out."
Breer's not wrong; the Browns do have a brutal early schedule. They'll host Cincinnati , head to Baltimore , host Green Bay, head to Detroit , London against the Vikings, and then travel to Pittsburgh , all in the first six weeks of the season. That stretch would be a challenge for even the best veteran quarterbacks.
In other words, the Browns may very well want to name a starting quarterback early on, in hopes of finding more immediate success on offense. If not, we could see another pathetic offensive display, like the one that saw the Browns finish dead last in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game a season ago.
After going just 3-14 a year ago, sputtering that much again would likely spell the end of Stefanski's tenure as the Browns' head coach.
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