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Sam Darnold (left) and Josh Rosen (right) are both projected to go high in this year's NFL draft.
- The Cleveland Browns, who own an unusual number of high picks in this year's draft, have considered using two of those picks on a quarterback.
- Such a strategy would be unconventional, but it makes sense as the NFL draft is incredibly random.
- The Browns have spent nearly two decades trying and failing to land a quarterback who could lead the franchise to prolonged success.
The Cleveland Browns are a franchise in a miserable state right now, coming off of an 0-16 season and in the midst of a playoff drought that goes back well over a decade. Fortunately, the franchise has a lot of draft picks with which to rebuild, and according to a report from Kevin Clark of The Ringer, the team may be considering a bold strategy for using those picks - by drafting two quarterbacks high in the draft.
Currently, the Browns own the first and fourth overall pick, and three second-round picks in a draft that is stocked with intriguing quarterback prospects.
As Clark notes, such a strategy would be going against the conventional NFL wisdom. But it makes quite a bit of sense. A franchise quarterback is the most coveted asset in football, and a franchise quarterback on a rookie contract is especially valuable.
And as ESPN's Bill Barnwell has written, with the aid of research from Neil Paine of 538, the NFL draft is a crapshoot. The teams that succeed the most do so by amassing more picks than any other franchise, giving themselves more chances to end up with good players. So it's reasonable to extend that logic to the quarterback position.
Naturally, such a move would come with downsides. Two that Clark mentions are, " . . . not enough practice reps to develop two quarterbacks and the inability to trade a rookie midseason because of a clause in the CBA." Plus, the quarterback competition between the two would likely become a media circus.
Still, for a franchise with a long track record of trying and failing to find a franchise quarterback, just about any approach is worth considering at this point.
More NFL coverage:
- As Tom Brady has gotten older, his values no longer align with Bill Belichick, and it could be the source of the team's tension
- 2018 NFL MOCK DRAFT: What the experts are predicting for the first-round
- Where the top quarterbacks will go in the NFL Draft according to the experts
- Two of the NFL's most promising teams have one big factor in common - and it shows why so many teams are scrambling to find their franchise quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft