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Browns should've stuck to script, passed on Kizer

Brian Spurlock / USA TODAY Sports

It was all going so well.

The Cleveland Browns came away from the first night of the 2017 NFL Draft finally looking like they knew what they were doing.

Here's how the night went:

  • First overall: Myles Garrett.
  • 12th overall: Traded to Texans for the 25th pick and 2018 first-round pick.
  • 25th overall: Jabrill Peppers.
  • 29th overall (Acquired from the Packers): David Njoku.

Three quality first-rounders and an additional 2018 first-rounder added without reaching on a pick or forcing a fit. They actually took the best available players, all of whom can make a difference from Day 1. It was as if all the demons of past drafts had been exorcised, leaving behind a football team that somehow knew what it was doing.

Until Friday night.

With the 52nd overall pick, the Browns selected Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, ending the overconfident pass thrower's slide after being projected as a first-round pick.

The Browns are in just their second draft since beginning their latest rebuild, headed up by Executive Vice President Sashi Brown, Chief Strategy officer Paul DePodesta, and head coach Hue Jackson. The strategy of this rebuild has been to get the most value out of every draft pick, don't rush into anything, and be patient.

In the first round, the Browns looked as if they had more or less perfected that strategy - but taking Kizer just doesn't fit.

There's no reason that the Browns had to draft a quarterback this year. They can still be a bottom-10 team next season - and will likely finish as such. They have multiple options at quarterback with Cody Kessler and Brock Osweiler on the roster, and a bounty of roster holes to fill.

Without pressure to be a fully assembled playoff team by September, the Browns were on the right track, trying to build up the rest of the team before installing a franchise quarterback.

Kizer is in for tough sledding if he expects to come in and be successful early in his career.

His college coach, Brian Kelly, gave Kizer the opposite of a vote of confidence leading into the draft that should have Browns fans dropping their heads into their hands.

"Well, he still should be in college. The circumstances are such that you have to make business decisions and he felt like it was in his best interest," Kelly said about Kizer in early April. "I'm going to support him and his decision.

"But the reality of it is he needs more football, he needs more time to grow in so many areas. Not just on the field, but off the field."

Kizer may get on the field with Cleveland, but his transition from reading college defenses to pro ones doesn't sound like it will go well, according to Kelly.

The 21-year-old has also never had the chance to learn from older quarterbacks willing to teach him. He may not get that chance in Cleveland either as Osweiler and Kessler will be looking to beat him out - not teach him how to beat them out.

With so many quality players still on the board, good quarterbacks coming out next draft, and no position on the Browns' roster that couldn't hurt to upgrade, drafting a quarterback - whether he's a reach or not - is a step back toward the old model that brought in Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn, and Charlie Frye.

Let's be honest, the Browns should probably just not draft quarterbacks - especially ones from big name college programs. Just stick to the script.

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