Jared Goff Goes to Cleveland Browns in Early Mock Draft

In his first rendition of a mock NFL draft, Mel Kiper Jr. has Cal’s Jared Goff heading to the Cleveland Browns, which is a scary proposition for all involved.

Mel Kiper Jr., one of ESPN’s draft experts, has released his first edition of the NFL’s mock draft, and with the second overall pick, the Cleveland Browns are predicted to take Jared Goff, the Cal Bears‘ junior quarterback entering the draft a year early. If you’re a Cal fan, that probably send chills up and down your spine, and for good reason.

Goff has the resume of a big time quarterback, racking up numerous records throughout his three seasons as a starter. He holds just about every Cal passing record, both for a single season and for an entire career, and by pretty wide margins. In his junior season, he broke the single season Pac-12 records for passing yards and touchdowns. He’s third in Pac-12 history in yardage, and fourth in completions, attempts, and touchdowns.

Going to Cleveland, however, could become a death sentence for the young quarterback. Since re-entering the NFL in 1999, the Browns have turned FirstEnergy Stadium into a quarterback graveyard, where signal callers’ careers go to die. In the past 17 years, the Browns have used 24 different starting quarterbacks. Of those quarterbacks, only two (Tim Couch and Derek Anderson) have made more than two seasons worth of starts with the team. Only one out of those 24 passers has a winning record: Brian Hoyer (10-6).

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Since their re-opening as an NFL team, the Browns have drafted eight quarterbacks and haven’t had luck with any. They made Couch the first overall pick in 1999, and over five seasons, the Kentucky alumni went 22-37 as a starter and threw more interceptions (67) than touchdowns (64). The next year, they drafted Southwest Texas State quarterback Spergon Wynn in the sixth round and started one game in his lone season as a Brown.

In 2004, Luke McCown was drafted in the fourth round and played only one season in Cleveland. He was winless in four startes, completed less than half his passes (48-for-98, 49 percent), and also threw more interceptions (seven) than scores (four). Akron quarterback Charlie Frye was taken in the third round in 2005, but he would also succumb to Cleveland-itis.

In the past eight drafts, the Browns have taken three quarterbacks with the 22nd overall pick. They took Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn in 2007, and despite high praise coming out of college, Quinn experienced inconsistent playing time and various injuries before being trade to the Denver Broncos in 2010. In 2012, they selected 28-year-old Brandon Weeden from Oklahoma State, making him the oldest first-rounder ever taken. That, of course, turned out to be an ugly experiment. In 2014, they picked Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M, and that circus is just about to leave town.

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If Cleveland does want to take (another) quarterback in the first round, there will be other options besides Goff. Paxton Lynch, the 6’7″ junior from Memphis, declared early and will assuredly become the fourth Tiger quarterback to be drafted, and the first since Steve Williams 1994. In Todd McShay’s mock draft, he has the Browns picking Lynch at number two. Senior QB Carson Wentz from North Dakota State has become a viable option in the draft, and will almost certainly become the first Bison passer to be drafted. Picking him with the second pick looks like a bit of a stretch, however.

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A situation like the one Aaron Rodgers found himself in would probably be ideal for Goff, much like it would be for almost any quarterback. Going to Cleveland, where the system changes more than the weather and quarterback jobs are like yo-yos would be scary for everyone involved. Maybe Goff is the one to break that chain, though. Stranger things have happened, right?

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