I don't think many people can go back and blame the Browns front office for making this deal. They had already drafted Joe Thomas with the third overall pick in the draft, and the talk of the first round was that Brady Quinn was quickly falling. Cleveland gave up their first-round pick for the following year (and their second rounder in 2007) to move up to No. 22 overall, but that did not seem to matter at the time as it seemed like we got our quarterback of the future one year early.
Quinn basically sat on the bench during his rookie season thanks to a shocking surge by Derek Anderson, who ended up making the Pro Bowl. Quinn also hurt himself in his rookie year by staging a lengthy holdout to start training camp. Anderson kept the starting job in 2008, but after the team started the year at 3-5 with Anderson struggling, Quinn made his first start against the Denver Broncos. It was a great first showing, but over the next two weeks he completed only about 40% of his passes. Part of the reason was that he broke his finger during his second start, which ended his season just as fans were excited about him.
Quinn was given the starting job to start the 2009 campaign, but had difficulty moving the offense and lost his job mid-way through the third week of the season to Anderson. He returned in a Monday Night game later that season against the Baltimore Ravens. I attended that game and let me tell you, it was the most pathetic offensive display I have ever seen in person. The Browns did not trust Quinn to throw the ball down the field. He tried to debunk that belief the following week as he lit up the Detroit Lions (the game Matthew Stafford suffered his injury), and he also had a good statistical effort two games later. When the Browns started having an unbelievable stretch with the ground game under Jerome Harrison, Quinn could not capitalize despite the fact that defenses were focused on the run. He missed the final two games due to a foot injury.
In March 2010, Quinn was dealt for a fullback. "Ha, a FULLBACK!" was the common joke around the league. I do not thank Quinn for making that possible, I thank Josh McDaniels for giving away an awesome running back in Peyton Hillis. When you look at what Quinn did as a member of the Browns considering he was a first-round pick, he was a complete bust. Tim Couch contributed more to this team than Quinn ever did.
Only one more bust remains -- stay tuned Friday to find out who that is!
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