Watson's varied talents have prompted comparisons to Donovan McNabb, who went No. 2 to the Eagles in 1999 after the first-year expansion Browns took Tim Couch No. 1.
A team could do worse than tether itself to a McNabb clone for a bunch of years, provided he actually wants to play for a team that went 1-15 last year, which remains an open question considering he's skipping the Senior Bowl and the chance to work with Browns coach Hue Jackson.
McNabb played in a Super Bowl. If not a Hall of Famer, he fit the mold of a franchise QB, which is something the Browns haven’t had since Bill Belichick ran Bernie Kosar and his diminishing skills out of town.
Since Kosar – OK, since Couch – the Browns have gone down some curious first-round avenues. Owner Jimmy Haslam listened to a homeless guy and selected a serial partier (Johnny Manziel) after nearly everyone else passed on him. Before that they picked a guy (Brandon Weeden) in the first round who had spent five years playing professional baseball. In 2007 they fell for an overhyped Notre Dame kid (Brady Quinn) who dropped like a stone in the first round.
Another strategy they have employed has been to wait until the third round and hope good fortune smiles upon them. This approach has produced the likes of Charlie Frye and, just last year, Cody Kessler.
What the Browns never do with quarterbacks is get lucky. Had they in 2000, they would have chosen Tom Brady, from up the road at Michigan, instead of Spergon Wynn, a complete unknown, in the sixth round.
They’ve also been known to go after retreads and rejects, guys who are ready for a rocking chair. That list is longer than your sleeve, including everyone from Jake Delhomme to Trent Dilfer to Josh McCown to Jeff Garcia to Robert Griffin III (although he’s still young enough to amount to something even though the Browns have soured on him after one injury-plagued year).
My favorite retread was Garcia. In 2004, the Browns thought they were set at quarterback with the ex-49er. So they passed on drafting Ben Roethlisberger in favor of tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., and watched Big Ben win two Super Bowls with the Steelers on his way to the Hall of Fame.
If nothing else, the Browns are due to make a smart quarterback decision. Or at least get lucky.
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