Pat Shurmur and the Browns have a big decision on the horizon.
It is widely expected that Cleveland will make a push for Robert Griffin III in April's draft. They're one of a number of teams expected to throw trade bait at the Rams for the No. 2 spot, and Shurmur confirmed that his meeting with RGIII at last week's combine did nothing to lower expectations of the Baylor quarterback.
"I thought the meeting went well," Shurmur told The Plain Dealer on Thursday. "A very sharp, very well-spoken young man. Everybody knows how accomplished he was on the field. Again, it was a 15-minute meeting, so you had a chance to interact with him. You try to get a lot out of that, and I think we learned a lot -- just like we did with all the other players. But we've still gotta do more work."
Shurmur's take falls in line with just about every other report out there on RGIII. He blew the doors off his combine presser last week, and those in the room could feel the young man's stock rising with every question he blasted out of the park.
Where RGIII winds up remains a mystery, and Shurmur logged time with a wide swath of passers, including Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill, thought by many to be the draft's third-best quarterback.
"I was equally impressed with Ryan," Shurmur said. "Very intelligent young man. Did a nice job in the interview. It's important in the interview that they're able to talk about what they did when we watch their film, and I thought he did a very nice job of that. He was very productive this year after being a receiver. He played receiver for 30 games and quarterback for 21. That's not always easy to do."
The QB question has hung in the sky over Cleveland ever since Bernie Kosar was cut by the team almost 20 seasons ago. Colt McCoy has shown grit and some promise under center on a talent-poor offense, but with two first-round picks as ammunition, the Browns must decide if the time is now to bring home the next big thing at quarterback, or go with what they have.
