Hue Jackson got a bit testy yesterday when asked about his starting quarterback. "Do you want me to say it again?" he asked rhetorically. "Tyrod is our starting quarterback." If people are hesitant to trust his assurances regarding Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield, past actions may be a factor.
In Jackson's two-year tenure as head coach of the Browns, five different quarterbacks have started games, while yet another (Cody Kessler) came off the bench multiple times. Sometimes quarterbacks were replaced due to injury, but often they were benched, or they returned healthy after missing a game and didn't get back into the lineup (until the guy that replaced them got injured, or benched).
Here are the grisly details from the past two seasons.
| CLEVELAND QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL, 2016-2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Starts | Why was he replaced? |
| 2016 | Robert Griffin III | 1 | Injured |
| 2016 | Josh McCown | 2 | Injured |
| 2016 | Cody Kessler | 5 | Injured |
| 2016 | Josh McCown | 1 | Benched |
| 2016 | Cody Kessler | 3 | Injured/Benched |
| 2016 | Robert Griffin III | 4 | Season ends |
| 2017 | DeShone Kizer | 5 | Benched |
| 2017 | Kevin Hogan | 1 | Benched |
| 2017 | DeShone Kizer | 10 | Benched for Cody Kessler (3 times) |
In fairness to Jackson, he had no control over quarterbacks getting injured. But given his quick hooks for guys like Hogan and Kizer the last couple of seasons, would it be at all surprising if Taylor was a couple of poor starts from getting a seat on the bench for the draft's top pick? Not at all.
Taylor, considering his running ability and some of the decent skill position options that have been added to the roster this offseason, has some fantasy value while he's in the lineup. But how long will that be? The way Jackson has yo-yo'd his quarterbacks around to this point, you can never be 100 percent sure.
--Andy Richardson