Fantasy Football 2012: The Tricky Nature of Buying into Browns QB Brandon Weeden

The following mini-rant has nothing to do with the talent Browns rookie QB Brandon Weeden flashed at Oklahoma State, or the supposed progress he's making at Cleveland's Organized Team Activity practices—against three-quarter-speed defenders wearing shorts and shell pads.

Instead, it has everything to do with the absurd notion that Weeden, at age 28, is further along the development curve than a typical 22- or 23-year-old rookie quarterback, like Kirk Cousins (Redskins) or Nick Foles (Eagles).

For five seasons (2002-06), Weeden toiled at various levels of Single-A baseball for the Yankees, Dodgers and Royals (career ERA: 5.02); and even if he was throwing footballs to his minor-league teammates every day, before night games, it still couldn't have accelerated his prep work for a possible NFL career.

And if it did, why aren't the top programs in college football demanding their quarterbacks hang out with minor-league baseball players during the summertime? It's not like that path to NFL stardom worked for Drew Henson, Josh Booty or former Heisman winner Chris Weinke.

Yes, Weeden amassed 9,004 yards passing and 71 touchdowns in two productive seasons as Oklahoma State's QB (2010 and 2011), while posting a remarkable completion rate of 70 percent. But he still missed out on starter's reps for seven football seasons (2002-08), while failing to capitalize on the athletic-prime ages of 18 to 25 (from a football standpoint).

But this piece isn't to deride Weeden's physical gifts; it's about the number of times I've heard him garner praise since the April draft (from coaches, teammates, media) for his "maturity" and "experience."

Yes, he has a wife and house, the staples of a typical 28-year-old American athlete; and yes, he's less likely to start a bar brawl after a devastating Sunday loss. But maturity can only take you so far in the NFL...with the perfect example being Weeden's teammate in Cleveland, incumbent Colt McCoy (who also has a house and a wife).

The "experience" angle can be negated like this: The Internet has been a mainstream occurrence for roughly 17 years (1995); and sports-media sites like ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, SportingNews.com and SI.com have been employing web producers for the last 16 years.

So, if the Web has only been in full effect for 15-plus years...then why would a media company hire a 48-year-old worker over an equally computer-savvy 35-year-old prospect, since it would be chronologically implausible for the 48-year-old to have more web-producing experience than his/her younger counterpart?

The same thinking holds true for Weeden: Yes, he's been around pro sports longer than Kirk Cousins, Nick Foles or 2011 first-rounders Christian Ponder and Jake Locker...but it's ridiculous to believe that type of baseball-specific experience and maturity will help him flourish as an NFL rookie.

Bottom line: You can pitch all the minor-league baseball games you want, and you can toss a thousand touchdowns to Justin Blackmon in college...but there's no real simulation for running an NFL offense. Failure is an inescapable fate for 90 percent of rookie QBs.

And last I checked, Weeden got drafted onto a club that's painfully devoid of playmaking receivers...or at least ones who are fully developed, at this point.

Fantasy Verdict

If Weeden is the Browns' opening-day starter, it'll be because the franchise lost faith in Colt McCoy (20 TD/20 INTs from 2010-11) as the long-term answer at quarterback; and it would have little to do with how Weeden is empirically ready to play at a high level.

Weeden seems like a good guy and a great worker. But he's just as likely to throw four interceptions in two or three games as Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck. And when that happens, I doubt the Cleveland media will show any age-based sympathies toward a quarterback who'll turn 30 next fall.

Seasonal targets: 2,278 yards passing, 16 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.