Senior Bowl first step in Browns rebuild
BY JEREMY SOMERVILLE
BROWNS BEAT WRITER
(MOBILE, AL) - This week in Mobile, Alabama, NFL Scouts, General Managers, Head Coaches, and various media all gather together for the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Among that group is a contingent of the Cleveland Browns front office that includes, head coach Hue Jackson, Executive VP of Football Operations Sashi Brown, and owner Jimmy Haslam.
The trio is in Mobile as the first step in rebuilding a franchise that has been stuck in the mud for almost two full decades.
Among the players that they should and most likely will be checking out and scouting very heavily is the mystery man, North Dakota State University quarterback Carson Wentz.
Until a few weeks ago, the 6’5″, 23-year old right handed signal caller, was a mystery to many casual NFL fans. Recently, however, he has become the hot name at the most important position in all of sports. A position, that, the Cleveland Browns have failed at addressing time and time again.
In 2016, the Browns are armed with the second overall selection in the draft and a quarterback guru of sorts as their head coach. Jackson is a man who know how important obtaining a franchise signal caller is. Something his predecessor tried to devalue multiple times throughout his tenure, instead choosing to go with the hope that Josh McCown could lead the team to the promised land while keeping 2014 first round pick Johnny Manziel firmly seated on the bench. The non-development of Manziel along with his off the field issues have the Browns once again in search of their franchise cornerstone.
For once the Browns were bad enough to give themselves a shot at getting the best guy available and not having to be forced into trading up for a guy that they hope can work out. At this time, most draft pundits have the top three quarterbacks ranked in this order:
Jared Goff, Cal
Paxton Lynch, Memphis
Carson Wentz, North Dakota State
Each of those quarterbacks brings a unique style and skill set, none of them are like the others, so the rankings can vary team by team depending on what they want in a signal caller. And while each quarterback will have their time, this one belongs to Wentz.
In two seasons as the North Dakota State starter Wentz threw 42 touchdown passes against 14 interceptions. He also ran for 12 scores. The biggest knock on Wentz, who grew up idolizing Brett Favre, is the competition, or lack thereof, that he faced in a lesser talented division of college football. However, that is where the Senior Bowl comes in. Many quarterbacks have seen their stock rise or sink with a bad week in Mobile. For Wentz it is an enormous chance to show what he can do against the top seniors in the nation, in front of a massive gathering of NFL decision makers.
If Wentz dominates at the Senior Bowl, the way he did almost every team he faced at NDSU, and while working under the tutelage of Cowboy’s head coach and former NFL QB Jason Garrett, the Browns will be in prime position to see if he can finally be the answer to the longest running question in all of Cleveland and the final name on the god forsaken jersey. His leap may look to some like a jump from a low minor league team to a major league team, but don’t forget that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who went to Delaware, made that leap and has turned out to be a very good pro.
Regardless of what Wentz does this week, the next three months will have him all over the place, and by the end one of those places could be Cleveland, as the key to the future of football by the shores of Lake Erie.
POSTED 01/27/2016 at 12:30
Lake County Sentinel
