Colt McCoy: Cleveland Can Sleep Easy, They Have Their Franchise Quarterback

Since 1999, the Cleveland Browns have been looking for a leader under center. 12 years later, it appears they have found their man in rookie quarterback Colt McCoy.

McCoy may be hampered by an ankle injury he sustained in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but his 2-3 record as a starter goes far beyond that on paper.

Whenever you hear about NFL quarterbacks, you hear words like poise, confidence, leadership, etc.

McCoy has all of these plus much more.

Falling all the way to the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, the winning-est quarterback in college football history was sitting on the board when the Browns were ready to choose using their No. 85 overall pick.

New team president Mike Holmgren, a mastermind of developing quarterbacks and offense in his time coaching, looked over to new general manager Tom Heckert and said to pull the trigger on McCoy now.

Holmgren pulled rank in the Browns' war room since Heckert was not convinced about McCoy's abilities and the Texas quarterback was getting a ton of negative press about his short stature and arm strength.

But when a guy like Holmgren, who has the résumé to back up his historic run on NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks, says to pick a quarterback, you have to listen to the man they call "The Big Show."

Now fast forward seven months to the present and McCoy has solidified his position as the future of the Browns.

This means no more talk of Ryan Mallet or Andrew Luck or whichever college's top prospect quarterback is for the 2011 NFL Draft.

Music to Browns Backers' ears!

Now the Browns can focus on adding weapons after the 2010 NFL season ends, and by add weapons, I refer specifically to wide receivers.

As said in a recent article about the Browns' lack of receiver talent, the Browns do have a good young core of promising players which include: McCoy, Peyton Hillis, Josh Cribbs, Montario Hardesty (barring any further injuries) and Evan Moore.

Even though the Browns might have taken a hit with McCoy reportedly in a walking boot and the next quarterback on the roster to have a high ankle sprain, the Browns are not making the playoffs with a 3-7 record right now.

At least they have the confidence in McCoy for 2011 and beyond.

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(Also posted on Dawg Scooper: The Cleveland Browns Source)