How the Philadelphia Eagles are influencing the Browns at pick 1

This Josh Allen to the Cleveland Browns discussion simply won’t end, and the Philadelphia Eagles could, very well, be a big reason why.

If you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan, you’ve probably heard a time or two about what’s sometimes referred to as ‘The Mistake By The Lake’. In 2016, the Cleveland Browns had the second-overall selection in the NFL Draft but traded it to Philadelphia. That selection became Carson Wentz. Later on in that same draft, Cleveland found a quarterback as well. He just wasn’t as talented.

His name was Cody Kessler.

This isn’t the first time that happened.

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, the Browns saw the Eagles get the best of them in another draft. In 1999, Cleveland had the first-overall selection and went with quarterback Tim Couch. Philly, picking second, went with Donovan McNabb. There’s no need to dedicate a ton of time to how that worked out for both teams.

Sometimes, mistakes in judgement influence future decisions.

When the aforementioned 2016 draft was the topic, two quarterbacks rose to the top of everyone’s boards. One was Jared Goff. He was from a program we often thought about when we spoke of NFL-type offenses at the collegiate level, the California Golden Bears. The other guy was Carson Wentz, who was seen as the guy who had the most upside. The only thing was we didn’t know much about his school. He was from something called the North Dakota State Bison.

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Fast forward, and that Wentz thing, minus an injury, appears to be working out in Philly. Cleveland has the first overall selection and is still searching for a signal caller. There have been mock drafts, and a lot of them send a guy from a small school, Wyoming Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen, to the Browns. Journalists have offered their opinion, and quite a few of them are discussing the possibility of Josh Allen being taken by the Browns.

Oh, by the way, reports state he also visited the Browns sometime around the 12th of April. They may not take him, but they’re definitely thinking about it. What’s interesting is they’re planning on doing so regardless of the fact that, throughout the evaluation process, there have been two quarterbacks that have been seen as being more polished and NFL ready, former USC Trojans signal caller Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, formerly of the UCLA Bruins.

So what does Cleveland’s interest in Allen have to do with the Eagles or Wentz? It’s quite simple actually.

For the most part Allen’s been known simply as ‘the guy with the biggest arm’. Sure he’s been compared to Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it’s much to early to make that comparison.

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So, why are the Browns so interested in Allen if Darnold and Rosen are, indeed better? Maybe Allen is the best choice for their franchise, or maybe they’re thinking of the last time they had a shot to gamble on the unknown guy. Maybe they keep thinking about Carson Wentz, the big name from the small school, and they’re still trying to correct that mistake with Allen.

It’s not impossible. Let’s not act as though the Browns are the standard bearers for evaluating quarterbacks.

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