INDIANAPOLIS — It’s the buzz phrase of the Browns’ quarterback search in 2025.
Talent versus fit.
Whether the Browns should take the most talented QB or the one who would best fit their offense is the top conundrum concerning Cleveland and the No. 2 overall pick as they search for their new QB1.
Does one matter more than the other concerning this year’s crop of rookie QBs?
Yes. But more importantly, we all should be asking if this either-or question is even a real one.
To me, it isn’t.
After listening to Browns GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski at the NFL Combine this week, I’m convinced that the Browns are focused on finding the most-talented prospect they can at QB. By doing so, it renders the talent-versus-fit point moot.
If you get a talented enough guy, you’re going to fit your offense to him — not the other way around.
“If you look at when Baltimore selected Lamar (Jackson), their quarterback was Joe Flacco,” Berry said. “Couldn’t necessarily have two more polar opposite styles. Or when Kansas City selected Patrick Mahomes, their quarterback was Alex Smith, and those organizations shifted and turned to build systems and offenses that accentuated what their young quarterbacks at the time did really, really well and minimized their weaknesses.
“And I think that’s really what most teams do that have success when they draft a young signal caller and put them in. And that’s something that we’ll have to do if we bring a young signal caller on board as well.”
In the middle of this debate are the two top QB prospects in this year’s draft: Miami’s Cam Ward, and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
Conventional wisdom seems to point to Sanders as being the better fit in Cleveland.
He’s good in the pocket, with drop-backs, and can thrive in a balanced offense that relies on a strong run game and play-action passing. Despite being sacked 52 times in 2024 due in large part to a weak O-line, Sanders never wavered in technique or fundamentals. He’s also great at producing within an offensive system, rather than improvising.
Sound familiar, Browns fans?
All of the above are the hallmarks of a Kevin Stefanski offense as we know it.
The only problem with that? Maybe the Browns aren’t exactly tethered to those principles.
Entertain me, and let’s enter the matrix: Does a Stefanski offense even really exist at all?
“There’s a Cleveland Browns offense,” Stefanski said on Wednesday. “It’s never been about me. I think it’s really important that we put a system together that fits our players, and that’s what (offensive coordinator) Tommy (Rees) and the offensive staff are doing right now.”
As far as weaknesses, Sanders can hold onto the football too long at times and drift backward as he goes through his progressions. Improving his pocket awareness is going to be key no matter where he lands in the NFL.
On the other side of this argument is Ward, a gunslinger with good size and a big arm who may have more upside of the two.
The Miami signal caller has elite arm talent and a quick release. He can perform in and out of the pocket, set or on the run, and can improvise.
A comparable player concerning his positives? Bear with me here.
You can make an argument specifically for Deshaun Watson during his incredible 2020 run with the Texans when he led the league in passing with 4,823 yards.
Yes, Watson has struggled during his time with Cleveland (putting the Browns in this position in the first place), but that season alone was enough to get the Browns to bite and offer him that $230 million deal. And of course, at the time the Browns made the controversial trade, no one questioned it for football reasons — only for the off-field sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Watson.
Ward has great accuracy and velocity, but sometimes, due to his arm talent, his lower body fundamentals become compromised and he becomes more prone to mistakes and turnovers.
If that part of his game can be improved at the next level? That’s where his arguably higher ceiling comes into play, given the already impressive arm strength.
So, will the fact that Sanders is the more conventional fit into a typical Stefanski offense be the deciding factor?
It certainly doesn’t sound like it. And if they end up with Sanders, Ward, or someone else, it’s going to be because that’s the QB who’s skills they valued most. And Cleveland will have to hope it’s own QB evaluation is the best it has ever been, and then they are going to have to do all the work required to make their offense work for whoever they take.
“I think you have to be (adaptable),” Stefanski said. “I think you’re forced to. And I think it’s the right thing to do. You want to make sure that you’re putting the best football team together that you can, and I don’t think you want to take a lesser player for a reason of fit.
“And fit can be so … that’s a complicated word as well. There’s players on our roster that have played really well. And you wouldn’t say they’re a perfect fit for what we do. But I think you get into a really tough spot if you’re just taking the fit because there’s different ways to do it.”
Fit vs. talent. Ward vs. Sanders.
These are only the beginning comparisons and questions. The success of the next Browns starting QB is going to come down to a different battle entirely.
It’s really the Browns vs. themselves.
