The Cleveland Browns announced Monday that Audubon native Joe Flacco would be their starting quarterback for their Week 1 opener Sept. 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals, with the veteran having won the four-man quarterback competition that included Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett. However, a former NFL player turned analyst disagrees with the decision.
On Tuesday’s episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Ryan Clark said the Browns should have gone with one of their younger options instead of Flacco.
“I think that’s the wrong move,” Clark said. “I think you should have looked at one of these rookies to see if you had your franchise quarterback in the building. Whether it’s Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel, who I felt both had good debuts here in the preseason. You know what Joe Flacco is. Don’t make the comfortable, familiar decision. Figure out if one of these young men that you drafted in the third or the fifth round could be the guy.”
Sanders, whom the Browns selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft, started the Browns’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, completing 14 of his 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, but missed last Saturday’s game against the Eagles because of an oblique injury. Gabriel, the team’s third-round selection this year, was tapped as the starter in Philadelphia and completed 13 of his 18 passes for 143 yards and an interception.
Attention now turns to what will happen with the remaining three quarterbacks on the roster and where they fall on the depth chart. Most teams carry three quarterbacks, but if the Browns think highly enough to keep all three and develop Gabriel and Sanders, or use them as potential trade pieces, they could decide to go light at another position and carry four.
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
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