Cleveland Browns team president Mike Holmgren stated on Thursday that given the proper tools quarterback Colt McCoy could be very good. Although this is not what many would consider a ringing endorsement it does show that the Browns are willing to proceed with McCoy at starting quarterback, after a failed attempt to gain the number two spot in the up-coming draft to snag Robert Griffin III.
Holmgren was quick to state that the Browns did make a run for Griffin III, offering the Rams what he calls "every bit the offer", only to be turned down. Although he would not elaborate on what that offer was, he wasted no time shutting down rumors that the Browns had offered three first round picks and one second round pick--these rumors per Holmgren were false. Plan one, that of acquiring the pick necessary to grab Griffin III fell through, on to plan two--
“We were very, very aggressive and it didn’t work,” Holmgren said. “The other plan we talked about was to use those draft picks to make our football team better immediately ... to help our quarterbacks on the team, or anybody else who would come on the team, be better because we’ve surrounded the position with better players.”
Making such an aggressive approach at trying to replace McCoy with Griffin III is surely a sign that the Browns, although they think highly of Colt, are not sold on his ability to be what many would call a "franchise quarterback", however Holmgren and GM Heckert were quick to offer support for the young struggling quarterback.
.“We do think Colt has a big ceiling,” Heckert said. “It’s my job to get better players surrounding him. After the season we said we have to protect him better. We have to be able to run the football, which we did at times last year. If you look at the games when we ran well and protected well, Colt played very well
Surrounding McCoy with the offensive weapons he needs to be successful has been the subject matter of numerous articles and discussions by many sports analysts, bloggers and fans. The constant dropped passes along with the failure of the offensive line to protect McCoy was just one more problem added to the mix--a mix that consisted of new coaches and a new offensive system--the West Coast Offense, which Holmgren was quick in saying that the Browns would stick with it and that the big thing was learning the system.
“Now we don’t have those things to deal with,” Holmgren said. “We don’t have any more excuses, either. But those are real things that happened.”
If the browns are truly looking for an up-grade at the quarterback position they do not have many options left, after being on the losing end of the RGIII lottery. The Browns have stated on numerous occasions not to expect them to pursue a big name player in free agency, this along with not having shown any interest in free agent Matt Flynn leaves them with one option--the draft.
It is possible that once Andrew Luck and RGIII are off the board the Browns may pick Ryan Tannehill or possibly Brandon Weeden with the later pick, however neither of these can truly be considered an instant starter, leaving the final option:
“Colt has proven he can play in this league. As Coach Holmgren said, another year in the system and we get him better players, he has a chance to be really good.”
Given the failure to obtain the pick necessary to grab RGIII and what seems to be a lack of interest in Matt Flynn, it seems the Browns are content with acquiring better offensive players and moving forward with Colt McCoy.
Quotes from the News-Herald
