The Cleveland Browns have the No. 1 overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett is widely expected to be the top pick, even though reports have circulated that the Browns are undecided between Garrett and North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Garrett is one of the most athletic players in the draft and dominated at the college level, but FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd believes Cleveland should take a chance on Trubisky with the top selection and he explained his reasoning Monday on FS1’s “The Herd.”
“Even if he’s (Trubisky) not (the right pick), if you can’t trade out of the first round, there is an argument to be made that if you’re going to miss on a player, miss on a quarterback,” Cowherd said, as transcribed by FOX Sports’ Nick Schwartz.
“But with the CBA now, and they don’t have a quarterback. It’s an Ohio kid, and if he tests better than the rest of them, and they have Hue Jackson, an offensive quarterback coach… you could make (an argument).”
The Browns have had 26 different quarterbacks since the city was given another franchise in 1999, so Cowherd believes it would be beneficial for the organization and head coach Hue Jackson to gamble on a signal-caller with the No. 1 pick.
“Let’s say they get Myles Garrett and he’s terrific,” Cowherd said. “Hue Jackson’s fired in a year and a half because he still doesn’t have a quarterback. Just for self-preservation, I’d rather whiff on a quarterback than I’d whiff on a tight end or a defensive tackle that’s not worth a point in Vegas.”
Cowherd isn’t the only person to come out against the Browns drafting Garrett, as Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp said Garrett wasn’t worth the top pick Sunday.
The Browns also own the No. 12 overall pick, so there’s a good chance they could draft Garrett and Trubisky will still be there when they pick again 11 spots later.
Thumbnail photo via Ivan Pierre Aguirre/USA TODAY Sports Images
