The NFL team that arguably needs a quarterback more than any other -- the Cleveland Browns -- wasn't represented by head coach Hue Jackson or GM Sashi Brown at Deshaun Watson's pro day workout Thursday.
But the Browns braintrust will get its look at the former Clemson star in due time. The Browns intend to conduct a private workout with Watson, and intend to host him for one of their 30 formal prospect visits as well, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
The Browns hold two first-round picks at Nos. 1 and 12, but the 2017 draft class of quarterbacks is considered to be a developmental group on the whole, and one that probably doesn't include a ready-made rookie starter.
While the Browns don't need to have their head coach and GM at Clemson in order to properly evaluate Watson, their absence does represent a departure from their 2016 run-up to the draft. Last year, Jackson and the Browns staff were not only on hand for the pro days of top QB prospects Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, they oversaw the passing drills for both as well.
Jackson said at the combine that the Browns intended to do the same with the top quarterbacks of the 2017 draft.
That didn't happen Thursday, but the draft's other front-line options at the position -- UNC's Mitchell Trubisky, Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes and Notre Dame's DeShone Kizer -- still have their pro days yet to come.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
