Adrian Fedkiw
We’ve already heard about the Carson Wentz not being a top-20 quarterback story.
Another report by CBS Sports states that several Cleveland Browns scouts with higher drafting grades of Wentz to Goff were let go in the lead up to the NFL Draft.
According to numerous sources with knowledge of the situation, several of the more seasoned scouts and evaluators the Browns parted with prior to the draft — an unusual time to release such employees — actually preferred Wentz to quarterback Jared Goff and believed him to be the greater pro prospect. It was clear to many in the organization dating back to December, when the Browns held intense draft meetings, that the newly-empowered analytics department, soon to be spearheaded by DePodesta, strongly preferred Goff. And new coach Hue Jackson and his offensive coordinator, Pep Hamilton, were not high on Wentz but prized Goff, sources said, and made that clear to the rest of the organization.
The Browns opted to release six members of the organization — many of them experienced, old-school scouts — just three weeks before the draft. At the time, they were bailing on the quarterback market in the draft (and Wentz in particular) and shopping their second-overall pick to other teams. Many of those men, a group that included former general managers and personnel directors, had never met DePodesta personally before being let go, and, with their contracts set to expire after the draft, they were going to be let go in 2016 as part of downsizing anyway.
But the timing of their release raised eyebrows then and continues to generate chatter now given the high-profile way in which their quarterback decision has played out and the fact that the segment of personnel they let go were more pro-Wentz than others.
It’s going to take some time before we find out if Wentz is a top-20 quarterback, but he’s off to a great start and will attempt to duplicate his Week 1 success on Monday night against the Chicago Bears.
By the way, if the Browns wind up with Deshaun Watson during the 2017 NFL Draft, I believe people will stop talking about this. The 2016 quarterback class wasn’t considered to be anything special and the Browns have been near the top of the draft most years since 1999.
In their minds they might’ve been thinking, why waste another high pick on a quarterback when the class stinks and we can get a better one next year or the one after that? In the meantime, the Browns were going to check out Robert Griffin III. That’s already looking like a disaster.
Cleveland will be kicking itself if Wentz turns out to be an All-Pro, but there’s still time for the Browns to get their franchise quarterback.
They just need to pick the right one.