EVERYONE IS IN agreement that Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett is the best player in this year’s NFL Draft and is a surefire number one overall pick.
Or, at least everyone except the team that currently holds the number one overall pick.
NFL insider Adam Schefter is reporting this week that the Browns have not decided between Garrett and North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Schefter says that, while some in the organisation prefer Garrett, there are others who want to draft the quarterback.
Now, any sane-minded NFL fan’s reaction to this news should be to bang their head off whatever surface is nearest.
Were Trubisky a definite franchise quarterback — in the Andrew Luck, Cam Newton variety — sure, I can see an argument to be made for drafting him first overall, especially if you think one of the teams behind you is going to take him.
But there are no indications any other team is willing to draft him that high, and the Browns pick again at number 12 which, while still something of a reach, at least allows them to pick up a generational talent like Garrett.
The numbers back this decision up too.
According to Scouts, Inc draft rating (via ESPN), in the last seven drafts, 19 QBs have been drafted in the first round.
12 of those were drafted in the top-10, with Luck (99 in 2012) holding the highest rating and Jake Locker (2011) the lowest at 90.
The average scouting score for at top-10 quarterback this decade is 94.
Trubisky’s scouting score? 88.
That’s a worse score than Johnny Manziel (90) who the Browns also drafted and who is no longer playing football and marginally better than Brandon Weeden (86) who is, well, Brandon Weeden.
In Garrett, the Browns get a generational talent, a game-changer for a team in desperate need of any sort of playmaker.
In Trubisky, the Browns get a one-read quarterback with a tendency to fumble under pressure and who has only one season’s experience under his belt.
Surely they won’t opt for the latter?
