All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio doesn't care about seeing what the Browns have in their rookie QBs. He wants to best QB in the room to start the season, and he has faith that will be their choice. (TheLandOnDemand)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Cleveland Browns Foundation golf outing …
It’s already been a strange spring season of false narratives about the Browns.
One of the most irritating is this one: This season’s all about finding out what they have in their rookie quarterbacks.
What other teams say that about third- and fifth-round draft picks? It’s not like Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are going anywhere for the next four years.
Look at the roster of projected starting quarterbacks in the NFL this year. Of 31 teams, not counting the Browns, 25 have first-round QBs at the helm.
The exceptions are Dak Prescott of Dallas (fourth round), Russell Wilson of the Giants (third round), Jalen Hurts of Philadelphia (second round), Geno Smith of Las Vegas (second round), Brock Purdy of San Francisco (seventh round) and rookie Tyler Shough of New Orleans (second round). Of those six, only Prescott, Wilson and Purdy started their rookie seasons and were winners from the beginning.
What’s more, the Browns tipped their hands about their intentions twice already – first, when owner Jimmy Haslam flatly stated, “If the right person's there, we're going to take him. If not, we'll figure it out for a year or two until we get the right person.”, and second, when GM Andrew Berry traded the No. 2 overall pick for Jacksonville’s No. 1 in 2026, and other picks, to position the team for an expected much better QB draft.
So when it comes to choosing the starting quarterback for this season, the objective should be to choose the one that gives the team the best chance to win. Veteran left guard Joel Bitonio believes that directive will rule the decision.
“Yeah, we want the best guy,” Bitonio said. “And you understand that the team has a duty for future years, but I think going into the season, we're going to put the best guys out there. And we're going to try and win as many games as we can.
“We know we're in a tough division, we know the AFC's tough. But I think we have faith that we're going to put the best guy out there.”
Back to the future
Bitonio, 34, went into detail about the major factors influencing his decision to come back for a 12th season – and possibly more.
Besides his health and the fact the five-time All Pro believes he still plays at a high level, Bitonio said he felt good about new line coach Mike Bloomgren reinstalling the wide-zone blocking scheme introduced by former line coach Bill Callahan, and head coach Kevin Stefanski returning the offense to a play-action passing game off a tough running attack.
“For me, it feels like a 2020, 2021 install of the outside zone with power schemes mixed in, which I think is the strength of what our line is,” Bitonio said of the offensive expectations for this season. “Obviously, we're a little bit older, but Jack [Conklin] comes from that outside zone. Wyatt[Teller] is one of the better pullers, power blockers in the league. [Ethan Pocic] can kind of do it all. But I think it fits us so much better.
“And then for an O-line, [when] you drop back 40, 50, 60 times a game -- and that's still gonna happen, you still have to pass the ball to win this league -- but if you can have a brand of like, ‘we're gonna take care of the football.’ And I think the way we won in the past is like, our defense was fresh. The games that they played great, they played 50 or 60 snaps, not the 70 or 80 snaps a game.
“And so if we can control the ball and handle those things, I think it's a big step. But from the installs and from what I've seen, it's going back to what Coach Stefanski has been doing.”
Even though Bloomgren and Callahan worked together only three years with the Jets from 2008-10, Bitonio detects some similarities. Callahan recommended Bloomgren to the Browns.
“He's pulling up clips of, like, David DeCastro [at Stanford], like, pulling stuff,” Bitonio said. “Things where you're like, ‘All right, this is some O-line stuff right here.’ And so you get these clips, and then he gets out on the field, and you feel his presence. You know, the O-line coach kind of like has to be d*** … You need that, you know? And it kind of rubs off on the guys.”
Just one more year?
Bitonio said Bloomgren told him he has four more good years in him. Bitonio won’t go that far. He said he’ll continue to take his career one year at a time, but won’t rule out returning after 2025.
A lot depends on his health after this campaign, but also the prospects of turning things around on the field. He knows the best chance of winning is with veterans Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett starting the season as the No. 1 guy.
“I already had a relationship with Joe Flacco,” Bitonio said. “We bring him back. Kenny Pickett, from every day I've talked to and been around … he’s just a guy that wants his chance and he's hungry to prove that he can play in this league. Then you draft two young quarterbacks. So I think the quarterback room, we have four guys that are going to compete that, like I said, we want to put the best guy out there.
“And I think we did a lot with our defense. You bring in a young top five pick at defensive tackle. You sign a couple other guys to bolster the defense. And you hope the defense can come back to 2023 and be one of the best in the league. And the offense can ball control, run the ball, play action, do all the things that you want to. That's like the picture you paint and you see where you're at.
“And that's what we're kind of hoping for. But hope is an easy word. We're trying to work for it. And we're trying to put the group out there and try and win some games this year.”
And then next year’s quarterback room, with Gabriel and Sanders a bit older and wiser, will take of itself.