If the 2015 NFL season has taught one thing, it’s that the NFL is becoming more of a team game than a franchise QB game. Let’s look at the elite QB profile; Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, and Drew Brees. Of that group, only three are in the playoffs and Pittsburgh snuck in. Brady has overcome the rotating wheel of wide receivers and running backs this year. Rodgers has gotten into the playoffs but has struggled mightily without Jordy Nelson with his QB rating this year being the lowest in his NFL starting career.
Luck has gotten killed by his offensive line and lack of a running game missing half the season. Brees and the Saints have struggled without Graham and a horrendous defense. Roethlisberger has fared well but he has a plethora of weapons on offense unlike most of these other QBs. Among the other top NFL teams, the Cardinals have a wide receiver core that ranks with Pittsburgh among the top three in the NFL. The only exception is Cam Newton who has surpassed expectations with Michael Oher as his LT and Ted Ginn as his top WR. We can also look at the AFC playoff picture. The starting QBs are Tom Brady, Peyton Manning/Brock Osweiler, Andy Dalton/AJ McCarron, Brian Hoyer/Brandon Weeden, Ben Roethlisberger and Alex Smith.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was almost in there over Big Ben too. Other than the two I mentioned earlier, the QBs did not carry their team there. They got there by their defenses and few other playmakers on offense. The Browns should take note. What rookie QB wants to come to an offensive line that allowed the second most sacks in the NFL and has to throw to Travis Benjamin, Brian Hartline, and Andrew Hawkins at receiver. The answer should be none.
The QB play is not the reason why the Browns were so bad this year. Yes you might not get a chance to nab the top QB in the draft often but when you do you need to set him up to succeed. The Browns are nowhere close to that. Let’s fix the real problems and give the fans a competitive team instead of watching them lose by 15 a game and have them take the next step the following year because it’s not a quick fix. Unless things change and the QBs raise their stock, I want the best player available and it’s one of these two.
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