DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Weeden named starting QB

By Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland.com
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on August 20, 2013 at 11:03 AM, updated August 20, 2013 at 11:32 AM
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BEREA, Ohio - Browns coach Rob Chudzinski this morning named Brandon Weeden his starting quarterback for the start of the regular season, saying he seized the opportunity and earned the job.

"It's exciting. It's rewarding," Weeden said this morning when he met with reporters. "I worked my tail off. Now my focus is going out and winning games."

Chudzinski said that the decision to name Weeden was completely his, and that the coaches, team CEO Joe Banner, general manager Mike Lombardi and owner Jimmy Haslam all are on board.

"I believe in guys earning things," Chudzinski said. "He's gone out and earned it. He's responded very well.''

"Brandon has earned this job. He's gained my complete trust. I felt like the timing was right.''

Chudzinski added that Jason Campbell is the No. 2 quarterback behind Weeden, and that the team plans to keep No. 3 quarterback Brian Hoyer, the North Olmsted native and former St. Ignatius High School standout.

Just last week, Chudzinski said that the competition between Weeden and Jason Campbell remained tight. But Weeden then played well in Thursday's preseason win over Detroit, even surpassing his spirited debut against the Rams last week.

In four series, Weeden completed eight of 12 attempts for 117 yards and two touchdown passes -- both to tight end Jordan Cameron. His QB rating of 137.8 exceeded his 127.7 mark from a in the preseason opener. He also put a field goal on the board.

Over the weekend, Turner praised Weeden for how he's handled the competition, and what opposing defenses have thrown at the Browns so far.

In six series of work, Weeden has produced two field goals and three touchdown passes. He's completed 18-of-25 attempts for 229 yards, with three TDs and no interceptions for a 139.8 rating. The mark is second in the NFL only to Seattle's Tarvaris Jackson's 156.2. Weeden also has completed five passes of 20 yards or more.


"I'm excited about what Brandon's been able to do,'' Turner said over the weekend. "We've spent a lot of time trying to find out the things that he does best and combine them with the things that our players do best. We've had a lot of guys playing well and (Weeden's) taken advantage of the way they're playing."

Turner's been especially encouraged by Weeden's accuracy on the deep ball this season, including those five completions of 20-plus yards. Last season, he finished 26th in the NFL with a 31.6 completion percentage (14-of-57) on passes of 20 yards or more. Part of the problem was his extremely young supporting cast.

"He's got a strong enough arm to throw it deep,'' Turner said. "In practice, it's really hard because our receivers are just running and running and running (for two hours). So sometimes on the deep balls it's harder to get the great accuracy, but I think Brandon's going to be a real good deep ball thrower.''

In fact, he's seen Weeden return to the accuracy he displayed at Oklahoma State, where completed nearly 70 percent of his attempts his final two seasons. On Sunday, he fired a 40-yard pass into a tight window to Greg Little, who was double-covered by Joe Haden and Tashaun Gipson.

"When you watched him (at Oklahoma State) and he got set and got his sights on someone and the guy was running open, he didn'€™t miss him very often,'' said Turner. "And that's what he's done here. Again, it'€™s about percentages and if you'€™re trying to throw the ball to guys you shouldn'€™t be throwing to, you're not going to be real accurate. We've thrown the ball to the backs a lot already, but I don'€™t mind that if we'€™re still getting big plays up the field.''

He acknowledged that the former minor league pitcher sometimes puts too much heat on his fastball -- but mostly on his shorter routes.

"But that's natural for a guy that hasn't played a lot in this league,'' he said. "I don't see any of the negatives. I see a lot of positives in terms of where he's going.''

He said Weeden's making progress with his footwork and not patting the ball.


"It's like going to the driving range and everything's smooth and it's good,'' said Turner. "Then you get out there and it's the real deal, and when Brandon starts thinking too much he slows down. When he's really confident and sure of what he's doing, his set-ups are faster, the ball's coming out quicker.''

He's also been encouraged by the fact Weeden hasn't thrown a pick in his three quarters. Last season, he had 14 touchdowns against 17 interceptions.
"He's had some tough plays in the preseason where he's gotten to the third or fourth receiver, made good decisions, and he's thrown the ball away,'' said Turner. "If you can play a couple of games and not have an interception or have a ball that should be intercepted, you're making progress.''

Wait, how could this be,, Just the other day it was reported that the Browns weren't sold on him..

Its about time!!!!

Shocker. I really thought they were going to go with Hoyer.

coin flip?

Although I liked the fact of keeping Weeden on his heals by delaying this announcement, it still however comes to no surprise. Alright Weeden, the ball is in your court. Don't FUBAR it up

I predict Weeden will be everything we hope he is.
A solid top 15 QB by mid season, if not better.
I think he has potential to be better.

My only concern for him is bad throws under pressure.
With our 0-line and Trent, maybe that wont be a problem too often.

With all-due respect, he made plenty of bad throws while not encountering any pressure last season. I mean plenty of them. A QB should exploit a defense when he: a. is given a clean pocket and b. given time to read the field and deliver the ball.

I feel, again me personally and JMO, if Norv can find a way to get Weeden to start a lil' hotter and find him into a rhythm in the FIRST quarter instead of late in the game when it doesn't matter/is hopeless, we will POSSIBLY see that top 15 QB you predicted. Weeden had a lot of cold starts and then warmed up as the game progressed I noticed. If he is into a rhythm, he is fearless and he can squeeze the ball into some tight, and I mean very tight locations.

We'll see. I'm excited and I am rooting for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think Chud and Norv just wanted Weeden to earn his job. They werent looking to see if Jason could actually start, they just wanted to make sure Weeden earned his job instead of just giving it to him. Now lets hope Weeden doesnt take it easy these next few weeks now that he has the job. Because it wont take too much week 1 versus Miami to get this fanbase calling for campbell.

Did not see this coming....

Must have been a gut feeling.

Lots of guys say it, Chud did it. He made every player even QB earn their roster spot. I can dig it.

J/C ........

Weeden named starting QB.

In other shocking news, grass considered "green", and water is wet. Please stand by for other developments that no one with eyes could possibly miss.

Yeah, I was having lunch yesterday and saw ESPN on without the sound and one of the story bars was 'Weeden vs. Campbell'.

Had to explain to the guys I was with that there was no such competition.

I think that Pluto got it right here ....

Cleveland Browns' QB Brandon Weeden had to win trust of coaches to win starting job: Terry Pluto | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf..._special-report

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Brandon Weeden being named the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback is not a surprise.

Weeden playing so well so early in the preseason has to be gratifying to head coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who pushed the front office to give the 29-year-old another chance.

So much can change in the regular season. Weeden may panic under pressure, heaving passes into double-coverage. Or he may lock onto receivers, allowing the defense to follow his eyes and anticipate the target.

He had all of those problems and more last season. Weeden had six games of at least two interceptions. Overall, he threw 14 touchdown passes compared to 17 interceptions and had a 5-10 record as a starter.

Or he may mature under the new coaching staff and the new system. In about three quarters of preseason action, Weeden has looked like a vastly improved version of the rookie who showed up last season and too often seemed overwhelmed by the speed of the defense and learning a new offense.

Chudzinski made it official, proclaiming Weeden the starter at Tuesday’s practice.

The head coach said: "I believe in guys earning things. He's gone out and earned it. ... He's gained my complete trust.''

Trust is the key part. Weeden earned it in the film room, in practice and in his attention to detail.

The coaches knew Weeden has more talent than backup Jason Campbell. But they also knew Campbell is a veteran, and they do trust him. So if Weeden turned out to be a strong-armed but mentally weak, they were ready to go with Campbell.

Campbell is 31, with 71 NFL starts. His overall record is 31-40, but he was 11-7 with Oakland in 2010-11. The point is, Campbell can “manage the game” and do a decent job.

It doesn’t take long to know that Turner and Chudzinski want more than that. They want touchdowns. Turner even has talked about an “exciting” offense, something that has been present at times in the preseason.

Weeden was ready for the coaching challenge. He indeed earned the job, and he did it not by default – but performance on and off the field.

The next test is the regular season, but at least fans can feel good about how Weeden has performed so far.

I hope somewhere out there, that someone has Toad on suicide watch

Quote:

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That came out of left field.

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Sorry.. I was sort of mocking your penchant for saying that all politicians are the same and that there really is no left/right/center in politics...

Chalk this one up to the one that got away.