CLEVELAND, Ohio — The buzz around Browns OTAs has fans already picking their quarterback favorites, but veteran cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto is calling for something you don’t see a lot in today’s NFL: common sense and patience.
During the latest Terry’s Talkin’ Podcast, Pluto delivered a reality check that should have every Browns fan hitting pause on their rookie quarterback hype videos. After observing all four quarterbacks at practice, he made it clear why throwing Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel into the early-season fire would be organizational malpractice.
“Why would you place Sanders or Dillon Gabriel or any other rookie in there?” Pluto said, pointing to Cleveland’s tough early schedule.
“They open versus the Bengals... Week No. 2, they go to Baltimore... Week No. 3, Green Bay comes here.”
The gauntlet continues with Detroit, creating a recipe for destroying a young quarterback’s confidence. Pluto argues that setting up rookies to fail against this level of competition creates a vicious cycle that unfairly labels them as busts before they’ve had a legitimate chance to develop.
“Let’s just say you start Gabriel just for whatever. So Gabriel comes out and after three games, he’s terrible. Gee, I wonder why that would happen... And now he’s bad. So you know what you say? He can’t play. He’s too small. He’s a mistake. Forget him. See how easy it is to write these people off.”
The situation creates a dynamic where Joe Flacco’s veteran presence becomes even more valuable. While rookie quarterbacks might have generated more excitement in OTAs, Flacco’s ability to handle pressure can be the stabilizing force this team needs.
“Joe Flacco is made for this,” Pluto said. “He could just look at the field and fire it. And he could really do that. I mean, he is so comfortable... He’s bigger than the other guys... This is not like, I mean, he was, like, there when they invented the rodeo, and he’s still riding the Bronco bull, and it’s no problem for him.”
Pluto noted how the conclusion of the Deshaun Watson era has freed the organization to make decisions based purely on football merit rather than contract justification.
“There was not one mention of Deshaun Watson the entire day,” Pluto said of last Wednesday’s practice at OTAs.
“... In other words, that which has hung over the franchise for three plus years is gone. And they could pick whatever quarterback they want based on what I would say, objective criteria, or at least their own honest football opinion as opposed to trying to justify a contract, a trade, etc.”
This represents a shift for a franchise that’s struggled with quarterback decisions for decades. The freedom to evaluate and develop quarterbacks without external pressure might be exactly what the Browns need.
Listen to the complete episode of the latest Terry’s Talkin’ for the full conversation.
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