BROWNS AT THE TOP OF DIVISION WHEN IT COMES TO QUARTERBACKS
By STEVE KING
Quarterbacks. Quarterbacks. Quarterbacks.
They play the most important position in team sports, so the talk — and focus — is about them always, 24/7/365, at all levels of football, but especially in the NFL.
That is never truer than right now. With free agency, at least the crux of it, pretty much over and the NFL Draft in Cleveland just a month away, teams without good quarterback situations are scrambling to find their guy — the right guy, the one who has what it takes to give the team the chance to get to where it wants to go, the Super Bowl.
First of all, Browns fans don’t have to worry about any of that anymore. At long last, after looking for nearly two decades in the expansion era, the Browns finally have found their franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield. What a relief that is.
Here’s something else, though. Consider that for the first time since the Bernie Kosar years through the last half of the 1980s, the Browns have arguably the best quarterback situation in the division.
And, again because of the importance of the position, that’s a very big deal.
The Baltimore Ravens, who have won two out of the last three AFC North titles and edged out the Browns — on tie-breakers — for second place last season, have a dynamic young quarterback in Lamar Jackson. There’s just one problem. He’s gone on-and-out in the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, and has looked awful doing it. That has to be in his head, and in the head of the rest of his teammates and even his head coach, John Harbaugh. It’s great to shine during the regular season, but the real test is doing so in the postseason. Can Jackson do it?
The defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers and their future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were flawless for nearly the first three-fourths of last season, then were terrible the rest of the way, especially in the playoff debacle against the Browns. Is he through at his advanced age? And are his teammates, most of whom are at an advanced age, too, through as well? Even if they’re not, then they have to be pretty close to it. The window, if still open at all, is closing rapidly.
And then there’s Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who is coming off a knee injury. He seems to have a bright future, but he has to get healthy first. Plus he doesn’t have much around him, which means he’ll probably take more of a beating in 2021.
