NFL Spin Zone
Fansided

Should the Cleveland Browns Draft Marcus Mariota?

By CJ Oliver

facebooktwitterreddit

Is Marcus Mariota destined to go the Cleveland Browns? There’s mounting evidence to support the idea. The first sign of the team’s interest was their hiring of Kevin O’Connell, former personal coach to Mariota, as their quarterbacks coach. Marcus was asked during his podium interview about the possibility of playing for O’Connell in his new position, “That would be an awesome opportunity. I’d love to play for the Browns,” he answered.

While an NFL prospect would be expected to say that about any team, further speculation came from George Whitfield, a quarterback guru who has worked with Mariota and Johnny Manziel in the past. Speaking to Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Whitfield stated, “it’s a very real situation…there are some talented young guys in this draft again that can play quarterback, and if they make that decision to bring him in, that’s big for him to get a chance to go in and compete with Johnny.”

It seems like a distinct possibility that this is a move the organization could make – but should the Browns draft Marcus Mariota?

While a competition between talented young quarterbacks may sound intriguing, it’s also fraught with danger. One only needs to look at the quarterback situation in Washington for an affirmation of the old adage “if you have two quarterbacks, then you have none”. In the same interview, Whitfield referenced Washington’s selection of Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins in the 2012 draft as an example the Browns could follow. They would be wiser not to.

More from Cleveland Browns

First of all, any acquisition of Mariota is going to come at the cost of draft picks. The Browns will try to package their first round 12th and 19th picks together, but the cost of a franchise quarterback will come at a higher price. Washington traded a total of three first-round picks and a second rounder from a better draft position, and they were trading with a team that wasn’t in need of a franchise quarterback at the time.

Trading down with either the Buccaneers or the Titans is likely to be even more expensive since both those teams share the Browns’ need at QB. Is it worth it to impoverish future drafts for one player, no matter how crucial? If this is going to be a running offense, then adding depth to the o-line with picks like Brandon Scherff or Andrus Peat is crucial to long term success. These players are unlikely to be available in later rounds.

Secondly, it’s doubtful Cousins was expected to be direct competition. Mike Shanahan made it clear that Robert was expected to be the starter and Kirk was expected to develop as a qualified young back-up in case of an injury. Since this is exactly what happened, it might appear to be a smart move.

But when both Griffin and Cousins struggled, it left the team in a murky – and costly– situation. Washington has numerous other holes to fill, holes that could have been addressed through the picks traded away to St. Louis. Most Redskins fans would be hard pressed to say Griffin’s stellar 2012 season is worth the situation they have now. If the Browns did draft Mariota, they’d be setting up this exact same scenario, except with one additional question – who is the presumptive starter?

This question is the most important one to answer when looking at the long term plan. If you do come up with a package to draft Mariota, you’re sending a message to Manziel that he’s yesterday’s news.

Why would you start Manziel in this situation, unless he blows everyone away during training camp? You’ve spent too much on Marcus to leave him on the bench if Johnny struggles. But what if the competition works, and Manziel plays like the franchise QB he was drafted to be? Then what do you do with a still unproven Mariota? The buyer’s market might still be high for him but you’re almost certainly not going to get back what you paid.

“I’d love to play for the Browns.” – Marcus Mariota

Speaking of costs, there’s also the cost to the rest of the team if you give away both your first round picks. With Josh Gordon’s suspension, wide receiver is again a top priority. This year’s NFL Draft looks to be deep at receiver, but the league-wide need at that position is also high.

Reflecting on the move up to 22 last year, the Browns had wide receivers Kelvin Benjamin, Marqise Lee, Jordan Matthews or Davante Adams available (not to mention Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr at quarterback). If the Browns had drafted one of those promising players instead, their fans might not feel the need to join Johnny in Draft Remorse rehab – a frequent destination at the end of the season for the team, considering they’ve drafted a quarterback in the first round of two of the last three seasons.

On the drafting of Mariota and inevitable frenzy that would cause, George Whitfield said “That would be an awful lot of attention, but I think it would be good for the Browns.” With all respect to Mr. Whitfield, Cleveland just went through this with Johnny Football. After the initial furor of excitement and jersey sales are over, we have to get down to real football and hard numbers. Browns GM Ray Farmer is a fan of that too, noting in his combine presser that they’ve done “cost-benefit analysis” on all quarterback options. In the case of Marcus Mariota, the cost is simply too high.

Next: Where do the Browns rank among the best franchises in NFL history?

More from NFL Spin Zone

Home/Cleveland Browns