Cleveland Browns: Dawg Pound Divided Over QB...But Why?

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The Cleveland Browns had a season nobody could have seen coming. 

Week One started with Cleveland taking a beating from the Steelers that had fans throughout Cleveland ready to begin draft talks.  Sometimes, draft talk truly seems to be many Browns fans’ favorite part of the season. 

 Then the unthinkable happened.

The Browns offense exploded against the Bengals in a duel that looked more like a video game than an NFL divisional showdown. Slowly but surely, the city began to believe.  The year dubbed "The Season of Dreams" by local Cleveland radio host Tony Rizzo began to unfold.  

Cleveland has starved for a quarterback since its re-emergence in 1999.  To the rescue came a 24-year old, six and a half foot tall, former Ravens’ sixth-round draft pick. 

Derek Anderson was less then stellar in training camp and had a rather unimpressive stint at quarterback in 2006, playing in five games while starting three and throwing only five touchdown passes against eight picks.

Anderson appeared to be nothing more then a lame duck quarterback who was simply keeping Brady Quinn off the field until he could reach competence at the NFL level after missing almost all of training camp. 

At the very least, Anderson could save Quinn from enduring the almost certain weekly beating that was expected due to the Browns’ schedule.

After Anderson's nationally acclaimed debut in Week Two, people began taking notice of the quarterback who was once expected to be a high draft pick out of Oregon State.

With Anderson’s remarkable performances against the Bengals and the rival Baltimore Ravens, who at the time were still many peoples’ pick to take the division, the Dawg Pound began to bark as it did once upon a time decades ago. 

Since the team’s re-emergence into the NFL, the barks have been few and far between.

Now that the Browns are back and have a quarterback that was in the mix to break all-time Cleveland records at quarterback and threw for the fifth most touchdowns in the league with 29 tosses into the end zone, as well as being named an alternate for the Pro-Bowl, Cleveland finally has a quarterback they can put some faith in right? 

Not so fast.

Among Cleveland's passionate fans, sometimes seemingly infatuated with the unknown, you will find what appears to be a virtually even split in terms of wanting Anderson to  wear a Cleveland Browns jersey next year. While I personally have been a die hard fan of the Browns since I was a young child, I am still often perplexed with the average Joe Browns fans’ take on how to handle the situation at quarterback.

The most common move people seem to want the Browns to make is to trade the best Browns’ quarterback in almost two decades for a first and third round draft pick. The argument that the Browns need to trade him while his stock is high, in my humble opinion, is ludicrous.

Obviously, the Browns have some issues on the defensive side of the ball that need to be addressed this off-season.  Tell me who they are going to get in this draft that is going to make an immediate impact on either side of the ball?  

I think everyone can agree that Phil Savage is an excellent evaluator of talent. He has two young quarterbacks with much potential.  Why would you not let the man who has yet to make a bad decision further evaluate them both and make a decision in the future?

If the reason is because you want those picks in the draft to fix the defense, maybe you should consider the fact the Browns have thirty million dollars to invest in free agency this off-season. 

For the past few years, Phil Savage has addressed the offensive line, which has been the Browns biggest need.  He managed to yank the best offensive lineman available in each off-season. This year, the objective is to improve the defense.

I can promise you, given all the talent on defense this year in free agency, and with a significant amount of money to spend, Savage will bring in some guys on that side of the ball who will make an immediate impact.                                                                                                        Browns fans; I am one of you. I know your hearts are in the right place, but the 2008 season is in no way going to be determined by this year’s draft.  However,trade Anderson and your one injury away from a Dorsey led offense that I'm sure anyone would agree would  be anything but a "season of dreams"

If the glass-half-empty pessimism will not allow you to put any of your faith in Anderson, who had one heck of a year for his first full season, and you insist on being that guy or girl chanting for the unproven Quinn when Anderson takes the field, at least put some faith in Savage.

Give him time to watch both of these young talented quarterbacks a little longer. Quarterback is by leaps and bounds the most important position in the NFL, and trading a guy that had a season like Anderson’s would be a mistake.

I understand it’s nice to be in the mix on draft day, but seldom does one draft pick take a team to that next level like a quarterback can. Browns fans that lived through the Butch Davis era should know that better then anyone.  
Obviously, you can keep your phone lines open for a GM that wants to make the next ‘Ditka trade’, offering every pick for the next Ricky Williams, but if that call doesn't come, then you leave things be.

Simply put, when it comes to football, or anything else in life, you should never put all your eggs in one basket or, in this case, the next five seasons or so of a franchise on an unproven quarterback. GO BROWNS!!  

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