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Cleveland Browns Have Other Options Beyond Cardale Jones, Such As Cal’s Jared Goff

By Justin Blum

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Sep 5, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff (16) looks to throw the ball against the Grambling State Tigers during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

All of this talk about #FailForCardale has lots of Browns fans feeling sick. As writer Justin Blum writes, perhaps tanking isn’t the Browns’ only option to get Cardale Jones–and if he’s gone, there’s other first-round talent, such s Cal signal caller Jared Goff.

By now, you’ve probably heard the talk about the Cleveland Browns losing games intentionally in order to obtain the draft rights to Cardale Jones. #FailforCardale. Oh boy!

I had hoped J.T. Barrett would start for Ohio State this year just so that Jones wouldn’t be drafted first overall in next year’s NFL draft. I was afraid that if Cardale started he would be so impressive that he wouldn’t make it past the top 10 pick come April. While I expected 12-Gauge’s stock to shoot up, I never thought that after one game, people would’ve reacted the way they have.

I am a BIG Cardale Jones advocate. He is easily the number one player on my board and he has been since January. If he stays healthy, he’ll still be the best player available when the draft begins next year. I believe that Jones will be a very similar player to Ben Roethlisberger. That is, strong armed, able to make all throws, smart, competitive, difficult to tackle, a winner. A Hall of Famer.

Cleveland desperately needs to get like Cardale…but not at the cost of losing games. I watched Tampa Bay’s 2014 season finale and I would almost be willing to bet that Lovie Smith tanked that game to earn the first pick in this year’s draft. He knew that if they lost that game, they would own the first pick, and almost certainly, Jameis Winston.

It was sickening. I was disgusted with Smith, the Bucs, and the NFL. I’m a die hard Browns fan and will be till I die. I’m also a Tampa Bay fan as Tampa Bay is my adopted home. So even though I knew what losing that game meant, I was heartbroken to see what I believed to be tanking. If the Bucs had played hard and coached hard, I would have felt fine about the loss and I would’ve felt even better about owning the first pick. I think the players did play hard. The coaches on the other hand…

Cleveland will have to lose all but two or three games to ensure they pick first in 2016. But what Browns fan really wants to endure that? I think that Cleveland can win seven to nine games this year and probably pick somewhere in the middle of the first round. If so, Cardale will already have been picked. But there will be a franchise quarterback still on the board (I think) in the form of Cal’s Jared Goff.

Besides Jones, Michigan State’s Connor Cook and Penn State’s Christian Hackenburg are probably the other top quarterbacks. If they’re the first three signal callers off the board, Goff should be there for Cleveland. I believe Goff is the number two quarterback behind only Cardale. I think that Jones and Goff are the only two quarterbacks that are worthy of a first round pick. If the Browns can’t get Jones, they probably could get Goff, and that will do.

I’d rather see Cleveland draft Goff in the middle of the first round after having a decent season than watch the Browns lose on purpose and draft Cardale.

I would even rather see the Browns trade additional picks to a team to trade up in next year’s draft than pick first. I HATE the idea of giving up draft picks. Cleveland has 12 picks again this upcoming draft. They had twelve last year. Even though it completely goes against my philosophy on the draft, I would be willing to trade multiple number ones for Cardale Jones. It’s simply worth it. A franchise quarterback. A guy to be the face of the franchise for 15 years. Easily worth the investment. Cardale would bring the return on the investment in the form of a Super Bowl. Or more!

So, let’s go about this the right way Cleveland. Let’s play hard and let’s play to win. Let the chips fall where they may and if we need to pay someone a high price for Cardale, let’s pay it.

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