{"id":638576,"date":"2026-05-12T13:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/638576\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T13:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:17:14","slug":"the-browns-most-interesting-rookie-just-might-be-a-quarterback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/638576\/","title":{"rendered":"The Browns\u2019 most interesting rookie just might be \u2026 a quarterback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last weekend, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Taylen Green found himself walking through an unfamiliar playbook in a hotel room down the street from a place he\u2019d previously never been. With one eye on a nearby iPad and one making sure his feet were where his new coaches wanted them without actually backing into any hotel furniture, Green prepped himself for his first set of NFL practices at the Browns\u2019 weekend rookie minicamp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The long strides are a part of what makes the 6-foot-6 Green such an intriguing prospect. Whether Green is capable of making significant enough strides with the playbook and his all-around game to help the Browns in the season ahead remains to be seen, but in an offense and quarterback situation that appears fluid now and going forward, the Browns feel they\u2019re taking a big swing on a rare prospect.<\/p>\n

At the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Green weighed 227 pounds and clocked a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash, a combine record for quarterbacks. The Browns\u2019 new rookie quarterback is almost as big as most of the team\u2019s tight ends and defensive ends and is basically as fast, if not faster, than the team\u2019s new first-round wide receiver, KC Concepcion.<\/p>\n

A sixth-round pick who begins his career a clear No. 4 on the depth chart comes with no guarantee of any kind, but the Browns took a chance on Green because he\u2019s a top-level athlete with rare physical gifts. And though new Browns coach Todd Monken has been clear that the 23-year-old is promised nothing past the majority of the rookie minicamp reps, there could eventually be a way for the Browns to merge the development of a long-term longshot with short-yardage or red zone opportunities for Green to use his size, athleticism and running ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say of course (I\u2019m like) Lamar Jackson, but he ain\u2019t 6-foot-6,\u201d Green said. \u201cJosh Allen is close, but I\u2019m 230. He\u2019s like 260. I don\u2019t know. My dad says I\u2019m Randall Cunningham-ish. I really don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody like me. Not (to be) cocky or anything, just some confidence. There\u2019s nobody that moves like me that\u2019s as tall as me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monken was hired by the Browns after three seasons as the offensive coordinator in Baltimore, where he constructed an offense around the running and passing talents of Jackson. Green spent his last two college seasons at Arkansas playing under offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, Jackson\u2019s college head coach. So Green is familiar not only with Jackson\u2019s work in the NFL but with plenty of his college film and coaching points Petrino carried forward.<\/p>\n

If any NFL team thought Green was really ready to be the next Jackson, Allen or Cunningham, he would have been selected long before pick No. 182, where the Browns got him. So in the interest of keeping the brake pedal nearby, it\u2019s fair to call Green the most interesting player coming out of rookie minicamp, and one Monken believes is worth thorough and proper development.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see the talent with Taylen, and there\u2019s still a next jump that he can make,\u201d Monken said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to have him out here and let him just play through some things. Obviously, this is the time for him to get reps. Once we get into (organized team activity practices) in another week, that\u2019s really going to diminish. I mean, you\u2019re not going to see as much of him because of the numbers (at quarterback).<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m excited and excited for him. He\u2019s a great kid, and everything we\u2019d heard about him so far has been true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since their return to the NFL in 1999, the Browns have had 42 mostly forgettable starting quarterbacks. They\u2019ve had nine different players make starts at various points over the last three seasons, and three of them are still on the team. But with a new coach and little guaranteed based on recent performance, the team\u2019s future at the game\u2019s most important position is wide open.<\/p>\n

As a college quarterback, Green was a weapon. He had 73 carries of 10-plus yards over his two seasons at Arkansas and 35 rushing touchdowns over his time at Arkansas and Boise State. It was no surprise to NFL scouts that Green also set combine quarterback records in the vertical jump (43.5 inches) and broad jump (11 feet 2 inches) because he was a powerful athlete who could create explosive plays, both by design and necessity.<\/p>\n

\"Quarterback<\/p>\n

\n Taylen Green had 73 runs of at least 10 yards during two seasons at Arkansas. (David Buono \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But Green never had a single-season completion percentage of greater than 61 percent and threw 20 interceptions over his final two college seasons. He was clearly a runner first and a passer second, and Monken said the Browns must continue to work with Green on shortening his release as he gets more comfortable with his new offense and new surroundings.<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s Dane Brugler wrote in his pre-draft report<\/a> that Green \u201cneeds to take better care of the football and refine his mechanics and passing rhythm, but he offers the physical traits and high character worth molding in a read-option, vertical passing game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arkansas mostly operated a no-huddle, hurry-up scheme, so just about everything that Green will now be asked to learn and command with the Browns is new. Monken said Green absorbed the parts of the offense the coaching staff relayed in post-draft video meetings and \u201coperated the offense pretty well\u201d in his first two days on the practice field.<\/p>\n

Any real chance Green has to take full command of the offense is months and maybe years away, but the Browns utilizing Green as a short-yardage quarterback or in some kind of run-heavy package remains a tantalizing possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably too early to tell that,\u201d Monken said. \u201cBut I could say that anybody with that kind of athleticism, should he progress in certain areas of his game, I think there would be a possibility of him (in) short yardage, once you get in the low red zone, maybe some third down stuff that we could utilize.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know how long the perpetual Cleveland quarterback carousel may continue to spin \u2014 or to what extent Green will be involved with that ride. But if he can match a strong spring and summer practice performance with the skill set that he showed in college, Monken could call his number at some point during his rookie season.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially my rookie year, I\u2019m just here to help the team win,\u201d Green said. \u201cNo matter what I have to do, I\u2019m blessed to have this opportunity and blessed to have the Browns draft me because not a lot of people get that opportunity. So if (my job) is just running somebody over to get that touchdown, I\u2019m going to run somebody over.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last weekend, Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Taylen Green found himself walking through an unfamiliar playbook in a hotel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1799,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-638576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}