Carson Beck, Miami Hurricanes
Getty
Quarterback Carson Beck of the Miami Hurricanes.
The Cleveland Browns aren’t going to select a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft, but new head coach Todd Monken has an open policy under center heading into his first year at the helm as well as past connections to some of the signal-callers likely to come off the board in later rounds.
One such player is Carson Beck, who played under Monken (offensive coordinator/QBs coach) at Georgia between 2020-22 before leading the Miami Hurricanes to the National Title Game this year against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Beck spoke with media members at the combine on Friday, February 27 and said that he’d be “super stoked” to end up playing for Monken again as a member of the Browns.
“Any team that’s gonna draft me, you know, I’m super grateful for the opportunity,” Beck said. “If Coach Monken were to, you know, be my coach again, obviously I really enjoyed him being my coach at the University of Georgia and what I was able to learn from him there. So, I mean, I’d be super stoked.”
Carson Beck Viewed as Potential NFL Starter in Future
Carson Beck #11 of the Miami Hurricanes has ties to new Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken
GettyQuarterback Carson Beck of the Miami Hurricanes.
Beck, who turns 24 years old in November, played five years of college football. He appeared in 55 games total and started the final three seasons of his collegiate career, two at Georgia and one at Miami.
Beck completed 69.5 percent of his 1,390 career pass attempts for 11,725 yards, 88 TDs and 32 INTs.
Some analysts have Beck projected as a Day 3 pick, though Lance Zierlein of NFL.com rated him out as the No. 3 quarterback at the combine.
“Beck has NFL-caliber size and a lot of experience playing in high-leverage games,” Zierlein wrote. “Beck projects as a good backup with the potential to earn a starting job down the road, but he must continue developing game-managing instincts.”
Browns Linked to Malik Willis in Free Agency, Anthony Richardson in Trade
Malik Willis quarterback Green Bay Packers
GettyQuarterback Malik Willis of the Green Bay Packers.
Whether Monken and his new staff in Cleveland will take a swing on Monken during the draft is going to depend on what the Browns decide to do in free agency or via the trade market.
“This year, I think the plan is to go get Malik Willis,” Zac Jackson of The Athletic said during an appearance on The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show Thursday. “And if that doesn’t work, then the plan is to trade for Anthony Richardson or go about another way to get a guy in there to compete.”
Currently, the top two quarterbacks on the roster are 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders heading into his second year and veteran Deshaun Watson entering the final season of his contract.
“I can guarantee you the competition is not just Shedeur vs. Deshaun,” Jackson continued. “It’s either Malik Willis and it’s not a competition, or it’s Shedeur vs. Deshaun vs. someone else.”
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com also noted earlier this month that Willis is a quarterback on Cleveland’s radar. Joining him there, Cabot reported, is Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson.
Simpson is the only other quarterback beyond Fernando Mendoza who analysts believe has a chance to come off the draft board in Round 1. If he doesn’t go there, he should end up an early Day 2 selection.