Arkansas QB Taylen Green shattered athletic records at the NFL Combine. The Browns are intrigued about incorporating his elite skills in Todd Monken's offense.
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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.
And on the third day, Andrew Berry created a new quarterback conversation.
This one goes like this: Should a raw but supremely athletic quarterback with elite physical traits be incorporated as a gadget player while his passing skills are slowly developed?
“The short answer is yes,” said the Browns’ GM.
Berry warned us that a fourth quarterback was coming. Nobody envisioned it would be swash-buckling, Arkansas dual threat Taylen Green, who turned the NFL Combine in early March into his personal showcase.
Berry intentionally targeted Green on the third day of the draft when he traded down from the lowest of his four picks in the fifth round and added Denver’s sixth-round pick. Berry then selected Green with the 182nd overall pick – making him the third QB taken by Berry in the past two drafts, following Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders last year.
Green’s jaw-dropping Combine performance was the stuff of legend.
Measuring 6-5 7/8 and weighing 227 pounds, Green posted a 4.36 clocking in the 40-yard dash, a 43.5 in. vertical jump, and 11 ft., 2 in. broad jump – all the best marks for a quarterback since 2003. Green’s overall athletic score of 97 ranked third among all 2026 prospects from all positions.
All of which obfuscates his propensity to committing turnovers – 37 his last two seasons, including 17 fumbles, operating Bobby Petrino’s spread offense the past two seasons.
After transferring from Boise State in 2024, Green compiled 5,868 yards and 34 touchdowns passing, plus 1,379 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing in two years at Arkansas.
“Obviously, his gift as a ball-carrier and a runner is pretty unique, but it really has to go with the offensive vision,” Berry said. “And I think that’s something that over the course of the spring and into training camp, as our offensive staff works with this group of players, we’ll define that identity and figure out how much of that we could potentially incorporate.”
Coach Todd Monken, who was two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson’s offensive coordinator the past three seasons in Baltimore, is on board with utilizing Green’s dual-threat skills in the main offense.
“Certainly, when you have a player with those kinds of traits … having an athletic quarterback can be critical to having success,” Monken said. “So, if he’s able to do that, then we’ll certainly put him in a position if we think that can help us win a game, for sure.”
OK, then.
Green, 23, joins Sanders, Gabriel and Deshaun Watson in Monken’s QB room.
“We’re going to continue to work with all those guys, and we like having competition,” Berry said.
For his part, Green said, “It’s a deep quarterback room, and I’m just excited to compete and get out there and learn. I’m just going to take everything in and hit the ground running and just be excited and put my best foot forward and get to work. So, I’m just glad for opportunity.”
Following Browns tradition, Green’s arrival will dominate Monken’s spring OTA and minicamp season. He certainly dominated the third and final day of Berry’s seventh Browns draft.
On the final installment of the draft, Berry selected:
* Alabama center Parker Brailsford with the 146th overall pick.
Brailsford (6-1 7/8, 289) was one of the lighter centers in the draft, but the Browns value his athleticism and speed.
* Alabama linebacker Justin Jackson with the 149th pick.
Jackson, too, is under-sized (6-0 3/8, 223), but Berry called him “a DNA match for this defense” because of his speed, range and athleticism.
* Cincinnati tight end Joe Royer with the 170th pick.
Royer (6-5 1/8, 247) transferred from Ohio State in 2024 and broke Travis Kelce’s single-season record at Cincinnati with 50 catches in 2024.
* Brigham Young tight end Carsen Ryan with the 248th pick.
Ryan (6-3 3/8, 255) emerged as an inline blocker at UCLA and Utah into a more prolific pass catcher at BYU.
Over the three days, Berry drafted 10 players – eight on offense – and made six trades. He netted extra picks in the 2027 draft (fourth-rounders of the Giants and Seahawks) to go along with previously acquired fifth- and seventh-rounders from the Texans.
“We’re really pleased with where we sit today with the combination of players and future assets that we’re able to create,” Berry summed up.
Throughout the evening, Berry was signing undrafted free agents to bring to Monken’s rookie minicamp in two weeks. Among them was Utah edge rusher Logan Fano, brother of Browns first-round pick Spencer Fano.