Does Browns head coach Hue Jackson see too much – way too much — of Andy Dalton when he looks at quarterback Cody Kessler and his potential?
I believe he does.
And if that’s indeed the case, then is it why Jackson is not effusive in his praise of Kessler?
I believe that it is.
This is the second time I’ve written something like that. I think Jackson believes Kessler can become a good quarterback, but not a great one, the kind with whom you win Super Bowls.
When I wrote this earlier this season, I did not mention the name of Dalton, the quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, who host the Browns on Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium. Jackson knows Dalton well from working the previous four seasons as a Bengals assistant, including the last two as offensive coordinator.
He knows Dalton is a fine regular-season quarterback. He looks like former Bengals stars Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason.
But Dalton is a horrible postseason quarterback. He looks like former Bengals bums Virgil Carter and Jack Thompson, “The Throwin’ Samoan.”
As such, the Bengals are in what could be called Quarterback Purgatory. They recently signed Dalton to a lucrative contract extension, so they’re stuck with him, win, lose or draw. Unless something changes, Dalton is not going to take the Bengals to the Super Bowl this season or in any other season. The Bengals are otherwise built to go to the Super Bowl, so they are stuck in neutral. They can’t get any better, and they aren’t going to get any worse for at least a while.
But no mistake about it, that window of opportunity, in whatever fashion it still exists for the Bengals, will eventually close.
Jackson doesn’t want to get stuck like that in Cleveland. And that is why regardless of what Kessler does the rest of the season, the Browns will take a quarterback with their first pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, which looks more and more like it will be the No. 1 overall.
