NFL Rumors: Colt McCoy Must Be Given Chance to Compete in Cleveland

It wasn't too surprising to see the Cleveland Browns select Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden in Round 1 of the 2012 NFL draft.

After all, Weeden had one helluva college career and, despite his age, the potential to make an immediate impact is evident. The bad news, however, is that Colt McCoy will likely slip back as the No. 2 quarterback.

According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Browns head coach Pat Shurmur feels that Weeden can enter the 2012 season as the man under center:

"

Pat Shurmur said he expects quarterback Brandon Weeden to come in and hopefully win the starting job immediately.

"We've added three (offensive) players and we expect them to compete to start and contribute what we hope to be immediately," the Browns head coach said.

"

That said, McCoy deserves a shot to compete for his job and here are a few reasons why Cleveland must still consider him.

Production

No, Colt McCoy's production was not indicative of sheer dominance and consistency. Thing is, Cleveland doesn't have a receiver who can reliably beat single-coverage or draw double-coverage.

So, McCoy rarely had an open receiver to target and the health issues at running back and offensive line surely put a damper on his production. Still, McCoy threw for over 2,500 yards and had 14 touchdowns to just nine picks through the first 12 games last season.

That's quite impressive considering how horrendous the Browns offense was elsewhere. Now with Trent Richardson in the backfield, McCoy's ability to set up shop from under center and work off play-action only creates a more balanced attack.

Even against top NFL defenses like Houston, Jacksonville and San Francisco in 2011, McCoy played well by averaging a 66.3 completion percentage in those games. Give him another opportunity and some weapons and McCoy will produce like that on a weekly basis.

Experience

Although he's younger than Weeden, McCoy already has two NFL seasons under his belt and had respectable numbers despite the lockout from a year ago.

McCoy's football IQ is arguably his best attribute and the Browns are basically starting over at the position with Weeden. It's not that Weeden can't light it up, but Cleveland will back itself up a couple more years beginning anew at quarterback.

Colt knows the offense and is impressive at making pre-snap reads. The Browns offense struggled in 2011 because of injuries, learning a new system after the lockout and the lack of weapons for McCoy to connect with.

Weeden will struggle early on, as he's not use to playing without any stud receivers on the outside. The man had Justin Blackmon for two years and another sound receiver in Josh Cooper. If anything, McCoy deserves a shot to at least compete considering Cleveland's new offensive weaponry.

Let's see what the kid can do with an improved ground game and pass protection.

Potential

This is where the age discrepancy enters the equation between Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden.

Obviously, Weeden proved he has impressive potential with over 9,000 passing yards and a 69.6 completion percentage the past two years. Not to mention he led Oklahoma State to a 23-3 record during his time at the helm.

Lest we forget, though, that when McCoy entered the pros, he was college football's all-time winningest quarterback (since broken by Kellen Moore).

Now, both quarterbacks are certainly deserving of the starting role because, let's face it, the Browns can use all the help they can get. To that end, McCoy's upside is greater and his potential cannot be justified until we see him perform with better talent around him.

Cleveland finally has some pieces in play with Trent Richardson as the featured player, so regardless of who's under center for the Browns in 2012, get excited because the offense has made upgrades.

John Rozum on Twitter.