Andrew Berry laid out the thought process behind picking Taylen Green in the draft.
The Cleveland Browns already had three quarterbacks on their roster, so why did they pick Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green in last week's NFL draft? Andrew Berry, the man responsible for running the organization in the front office explained why, as Browns Roundtable noted:
"The current plan is that we would roll with those four," Berry said. "I can't predict if something else comes up. So yes, that would be the intention."
Berry continued:
"It’s the most important position in sports," he began. "We’ll make a bet or acquire a player that we like if it’s the right cost. With Taylen specifically, very mature young man, really strong makeup, and he has rare physical gifts. He has size, he has elite speed, he has a big arm. He’s going to need some polish with his game, but he has the work ethic and he has the acumen to do so.
"Obviously his gift as a ball carrier and a runner is pretty unique. I guess it really has to go with the offensive vision. And I think that that's something that over the course of the spring and into training camp, as our offensive staff works with this group of players, we'll define the identity and figure out how much of that we could incorporate."
It does seem that the Browns wanted to take a flier on Taylen Green in the sixth round, knowing he wasn't going to be a Day 1 starter or even a QB2 behind Shedeur Sanders, the likely backup to starter Deshaun Watson. There's so much athleticism to explore with Green, and the Browns felt they couldn't pass up this intriguing opportunity. They get to define and determine how much of a risk they want to take with Green on the field, but it's clear they want to involve him in the offense to some degree and will come up with a package of plays suitable to him.
The question a lot of football fans -- in Arkansas and Cleveland -- will find interesting and relevant is if the Browns will ask Taylen Green to throw the football to any real extent. They could use him as a running quarterback or a running threat. Maybe they will line him up in the backfield alongside Watson or Shedeur. Maybe they will split him out wide but then have him come in motion toward the formation (and the tackle box) at the snap. There are so many ways the Browns and coach Todd Monken can play around with Taylen Green's athleticism, but the main point is that they wanted to have the chance to play in the first place.