Now that the Cleveland Browns have played their final preseason game, it’s time for them to choose the regular season’s starting quarterback. And the winner of the QB derby is… we still don’t know. Why head coach Eric Mangini is dragging this competition on for so long is a mystery to me. We all know they will eventually promote Brady Quinn to QB1, regardless of whether or not he actually deserves it. The unwritten rule, at least among inept franchises, is that the first round pick gets the benefit of the doubt until it’s clear he’s a bust. Quinn can be a quality quarterback in this league, but so can Derek Anderson. The same Derek Anderson who went the Pro Bowl in 2007. Unfortunately, he’s also the same Derek Anderson who completed a pathetic 50% of his passes and finished with a QB rating of 66 last season.

Both are young, Anderson is 26 and Quinn will be 25 in October; both are a good size, with Anderson standing at 6′6″ and Quinn at 6′3″; both have strong arms; and both have been inconsistent when given the opportunity to show their talent. The regular season starts next week and the other teams with question marks at quarterback chose their starters BEFORE the final preseason game. What is “Man-genius” waiting for?

Cleveland is in a rebuilding year so no one is expecting the quarterback to lead them to a .500 season, let alone a playoff berth. But for this team to head in the right direction as soon as possible, the leader of the offense needs to be chosen. Quarterback is the most important position in football, and arguably the hardest position in all team sports, and an offense knowing who the starter will be and developing a rhythm with that starter is integral to the success of that offense. But here are the Cleveland Browns, playing catch up as usual.

I hope Mangini knows what he’s doing. I’ve lived in Cleveland and it’s a wonderful city that loves football and deserves to see their team succeed. So pick a quarterback already. Please.

One thing that Eric Mangini learned from Coach Belichick is that you don’t play your #1 or #2 QB during the last pre-season game.  Brett Ratliff started this game and he completed 8 of 20 passes for 71 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Richard Bartel finished the game strong completing 12 of 14 passes for 137 yards with 0 TDs and 0 interceptions.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 6 yards (3.0 ypc) and scored a TD.  Chris Jennings was busy for the Browns in this game as he carried the ball 17 times for 59 yards (3.5 ypc) and caught 6 passes for 42 yards (7.0 avg).  James Davis was impressive again in this game with 5 carries for 37 yards (7.4 ypc).  David Patten led the way for the Browns in the passing game with 45 yards on 3 grabs (15.0 avg).  The Browns finished up with 282 yards on offense (103 rushing, 179 passing) in this game.

CB Coye Francies led the way for the Browns in this game with 7 tackles.  DE Brian Schaefering was a standout on D with 6 tackles and 2 sacks in this game.  The Bears finished up with 99 yards rushing (3.7 ypc) and 239 yards passing in this game.  The Browns finished the pre-season with a 2-2 record.

The Cleveland Browns will likely be using Josh Cribbs a lot of offense as well as special teams this season.  He has carried the ball 2 times for 35 yards (17.5 ypc) and he has caught 5 passes for 81 yards (16.2 avg).  Cribbs was a QB in college so expect the Browns to let him throw a few passes this season out of the Wild Cat formation.  Cribbs is off to a fast start returning kicks already this season.  He has returned 2 punts for 88 yards (44.0 avg) and 5 kickoffs for 134 yards (26.8 avg) this pre-season.  Look for Cribbs to be the MVP of the Browns this season as he will be all over the football field this year.

It appears that Jamal Lewis is in danger of losing his roster spot.  He has carried the ball 24 times for 63 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run this pre-season.  He has also caught 5 passes for 35 yards (7.0 avg).  To get rid of Lewis would be a short sighted move by the Cleveland Browns as he has rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of the last two years.  Lewis has carried the ball 577 times for the Browns in the last two years for 2,306 yards (4.0 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He has also caught 53 passes for 426 yards (8.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs for the Browns.  James Davis was a 6th round pick last April for the Browns out of Clemson.  Davis has really bursted onto the scene this pre-season for the Browns as he has carried the ball 19 times for 149 yards (7.8 ypc) with a TD.  He has also caught 7 passes for 44 yards (6.3 avg) this pre-season.  I see no reason for the Browns not to keep both Lewis and Davis this season.

Usually by now a team would annouce who the starting QB is but the Browns are waiting until some time after the final pre-season game tonight against the Bears.  Brady Quinn appears to be in the lead for the job as he has completed 21 of 31 passes (67.7%) for 225 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception (86.1 QB Rating).  Derek Anderson has not played as well as Quinn as of yet as he has completed 15 of 26 passes (57.7%) for 207 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (51.3 QB Rating).  Anderson was in the Pro Bowl just two years ago and he has a stronger arm than Quinn but he’s also prone to throwing pickoffs.  In the end I’m predicting the Browns will finally name Quinn the starting QB.