New Browns head coach Hue Jackson was asked a wide range of questions on Wednesday night.
That’s what hour-long introductory press conferences are for, to explore everything from A to Z.
That’s all well and good, but the gist of the presser could have been boiled down to simply all the questions about the quarterback.
Yes, just the QB questions. That’s all that matters.
Jackson will succeed – or fail – on his ability to find a quarterback. It is the most important position in team sports, and all good teams have a good one. That’s why they – the teams, that is – are good.
Yes, of course, it’s important to know Jackson’s thoughts on this cornerback and that tight end, this linebacker and that right guard, and this offensive scheme and that defensive alignment, but it all hinges on the quarterback.
Jackson was hired basically because of his reputed expertise in identifying talented quarterbacks and developing them. If he does that here, then all the other woes of the team will go away, or at least be minimized.
Jackson knows it. Everybody knows it.
As such, from this day forward, I will keep track of this cornerback and that tight ends, this linebacker and that right guard, and this offensive scheme and that defensive alignment because it matters. But it doesn’t matter much in comparison to the quarterback, so that is where almost all of my focus will be.
Yours should be there, too.
It’s easy to lock in on those guys. They start every play with their cadence, they touch the ball on every play and they are the face of the franchise. As they go, so goes the team.
So with the fact the Browns have the best mind, the keenest set of eyes and the best judgment when it comes to quarterbacks that they’ve ever had in the expansion era, should – should, not not necessarily will — give the team the chance to succeed at some point.
Finally.
As that unfolds – or not — over the next couple of seasons, it is well worth watching.
For it will tell us all we need to know about not just the Browns, but also about their new head coach.
