After measuring in at 6’2 1/8 and putting on a dazzling display at the NFL Scouting Combine, Mitchell Trubisky is the talk of Indianapolis.
Whether it was his measured height of 6’2 1/8, his 13 games as a starter for the North Carolina Tarheels or his recent decision to go by his full name of Mitchell, Trubisky silenced all critics in running a 4.67 in the 40-yard dash and showing his impressive arm strength and accuracy in passing drills.
Before the combine, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the Mentor, Ohio native—an East Side suburb of Cleveland—is under consideration for the top overall pick by his hometown—and childhood favorite team, the hype—and hope—amongst Browns fans is that they take the homegrown Trubisky, in the hopes that he is the second coming of civic idol, Bernie Kosar.
Kosar, a native of Boardman, Ohio, who was taken in the 1985 NFL Supplement Round after leading the Miami Hurricanes to a national title in 1983, played for Cleveland from 1985 before being released by then-Browns head coach Bill Belichick in the middle of the 1993 season.
Like Kosar, Trubisky has stated his intent to play for the Browns, and in the minds of the Dawg Pound, hopefully he will be their so-elusive savior and stop a never-ending parade of failed quarterbacks coming out of the Factory of Sadness.
While I have been beating the drum since the beginning of the season for the Browns to go defense, build the lines and take the likes of Myles Garrett, Jonathan Allen and get some quality defensive help while giving Cody Kessler a chance to develop, the prospect to take a possible franchise QB such as Trubisky, may be too much for Cleveland not to take him.
After seeing the success of Carson Wentz in Philadelphia—Whom the Browns could have taken had they keep their No.2 pick in last year’s draft, and seeing Robert Griffin III, the forementioned Kessler, Charlie Whitehurst, Josh McCown and Kevin Hogan fail to make a claim to be the guy in Cleveland, perhaps rolling the dice on Trubisky, DeShaun Watson or even Patrick Mahomes in the first round, might prove worth a risk.
During the NFL Network broadcast, analyst Mike Mayock compared Trubisky to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton due to both players being of similar height and build. Honestly, seeing that comparison, made me feel a LITTLE better about Cleveland possibly taking the former Mentor High standout.
While this QB class is not as heralded as the storied 1983 class or even the recent 2004 ones that produced the likes of Dan Marino, John Elway, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers, if there is a chance that a QB prospect is possibly “the guy” you have to take him!
If you’re a life-long long-suffering Browns fan, you know the exact meaning of what I stated in both the above and below paragraphs, as Cleveland has made over-thinking during the draft a long and torturous exercise on the level of CIA-style waterboarding.
You know I’m right, because it is true, as Browns fans have experienced the pre-draft euphoria of the draft only to wake up to a harsh and comical Groundhog Day letdown. Every year. Every draft.
Bet money!
That is what pisses me and other Browns fans off SOOO much, is Cleveland passing on a possible franchise QB because they are too scared and gun-shy to pull the trigger.
Yes, I can understand the fear of getting burned again after seeing Tim Couch, Brady Quinn and most recently Johnny Manziel flame out, but do you honestly think that if Cleveland passes on the hometown kid—and then he balls out on another team—while the Browns whiff on another No.1 pick, the Harvard Geek Squad had better tender their resignations ASAP and update their resumes on Linkedin as fans and media will NOT let them hear the end of it.
There’s a difference in being smart, trying to out-smart others and thinking that you are the smartest person in the room. Sadly, the Cleveland Browns—as both a franchise and front office—are still naïve and utterly clueless in knowing the difference.
While I’m not directly campaigning the Browns to take Trubisky, if he is their definition of a franchise quarterback, as reports state that the former Tar Heel QB checked off a lot of head coach Hue Jackson’s boxes, then Cleveland must take him.
The even better part of taking Trubisky is that with this being such a deep draft on defense, the Browns can actually afford to pass on Garrett and still grab a comparable—or even better prospects—such as Tennessee’s Derek Barnett, Stanford’s Solomon Thomas or fast riser in Pickerington-born defensive end Taco Charlton from That Team Up North.
Trubisky made his case to be taken No.1 overall. Now, the ball is in the Browns court.