Cleveland Browns: Colt McCoy Is the Future, Must Be Supported

Lately, there have been more and more people proposing the Cleveland Browns use their first-round draft pick to get Robert Griffin III.

It's amazing how people are so impatient and cannot look into the future.

Look, I get that the Browns were supposed to be a lot better than they were this year. Some of it was the at-times mediocre QB playing. But there were so many other reasons Cleveland had a bad season.

Statistically, the only thing the Browns excelled at was pass defense, ranking second in the league. But then you look at everything else and you see they had so many problems and downsides that it is no wonder how they went 4-12.

The most glaring problem was their huge drop-off in a running game. Oh yes, it's time for that dreaded name to be brought up again. I'm not even a Browns fan, but he still annoys me. Peyton Hillis saw his production in yards cut in half and his touchdowns decreased from 11 in 2010 to three in 2011. 

Now, how is a young QB supposed to lead a team that has no decent backup option? The Browns heavily relied on the pass this year because they could get nothing else going. Instead of using that pick on a new QB, why don't they get a more reliable, stronger and less whiny running back? Trent Richardson is immediately the name that pops up.

In fact, drafting Robert Griffin III doesn't fit with the Cleveland offense. It is a ground-and-pound offense that airs it out when needed to get big plays going. McCoy is perfect for this offense, while Griffin would never be able to see what he could do. Picking Griffin would be a waste.

Now, for the main part of the argument. Why should the Browns keep and trust Colt McCoy?

The short-and-sweet answer is that he has so much potential. McCoy has been steadily improving in the two years he has been with the Browns. While his 2011 stats were nothing to write home about, they showed that he has the right talent set to succeed.

McCoy just needs more help. He is a young QB with a lot of promise that needs confidence. In fact, he has done very well considering that he wasn't able to learn under a decent veteran QB. He was thrown into the thick of the action with almost no help.

I will be the first one to predict that McCoy is going to have a breakout year in one of these next two seasons. He has talent, it just needs to develop. The Browns drafted him knowing that he was a project that had the talent to succeed in the NFL.

The Browns may not listen to reason, though, so it is certainly possible they draft another QB this year. It would be a mistake, and it would be one that would cost them a great, young QB.

It is time that the Cleveland Browns organization and its fans get behind Colt McCoy and look to their future.