With the NFL draft a week away, rumors continue to swirl around northeast Ohio. What will the Browns do? Who will the Browns draft? Will the Browns trade back? Will the Browns Trade up? These are all questions any fan would be asking about their team, but it is different for Cleveland. The Browns have not had a first-round pick in 3 years due to the failed Deshaun Watson trade, but they do this year. Speaking of Deshaun, the Browns have also not had a franchise quarterback since their return in 1999. Because of this, the team is expected to select a Quarterback high in the draft, and one name has been gaining steam as a potential fit with the Browns, Jalen Milroe.

Milroe has been a controversial prospect, to say the least. Not because of who Milroe is off the field, to all accounts, he is a stand-up, smart, and accountable individual, securing his master’s and the academic hiesman during his time at Alabama. Milroe is controversial because of how raw a prospect he is. Milroe has explosive speed, running a 4.37 at Alabama’s pro day, as well as a strong arm and prototypical size, weighing 220 lbs at 6’2″. On the other hand, Milroe’s pocket presence and processing of the field during play leave a lot to be desired, especially coming from a blue-chip program like Alabama.

Mllroe, no matter where he is drafted, will need to sit and learn for at the very least a year. Maybe Cleveland is that place because Milroe’s former offensive coordinator at Alabama, Tommy Rees, is now the offensive coordinator of the Browns. But even with that thought, Milroe does not fit the typical quarterback you think of when you think of the prototypical Kevin Stefanski quarterback. Milroe is mobile and has success with RPO concepts, whereas Stefanski likes to run plenty of play action, not that both can be done in the same playbook; it’s just never been either’s forte. Then again, the last developmental quarterback the Browns brought in, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, was a mobile, super athletic player like Milroe, so maybe those are the traits the Browns are looking for in their next, true, franchise QB.

Love him or hate him, Milroe is intriguing. Jalen fits in the same realm of quarterbacks as Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts. No, I am not directly comparing him or saying he will be either of those two; I am just saying they have similar play styles, and a similarity between both Jackson and Hurts is that it took them a year before they were full-blown starters. If the Browns have a plan to develop Milroe, letting him sit and learn and continue to grow for a year, then I see the appeal in the pick. But if the Browns don’t have a plan, or have to abort that plan due to injuries or bad quarterback play, then I am less so on the Milroe train. This kid needs to develop. If, and that is a big if, you give him that time, you may have a franchise-saving QB on your hands. Do I trust the Browns to not screw it up? Honestly, it’s hard to, the team always seems to scew up. But if this team can replicate the same success of the Eagles and Ravens, maybe just maybe, that narrative can change.