Cleveland Browns: Week 8 college QB tracker

Sep 24, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) during the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns are likely targeting a quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft. We take a look at UNC’s Mitch Trubisky as a possible option.

The pressure for the Cleveland Browns organization to produce a winner is growing. The expectation for the city of Cleveland is championship-caliber teams. Both the Indians and Cavaliers have found the recipe for success and have produced winners for the hometown.

The Browns have all the pressure on them to figure out how to turn around an organization rebuilding since 1999 and give Cleveland another winning team. With two out of three teams in the center of the sports universe, the Browns need to follow suit and find a way to join them as the latest successful sports organization in Cleveland. For the Browns to finally get things right, the quarterback position must be stabilized.

Rookie quarterback Cody Kessler has been impressive through his first four starts of his career. The rookie third-round pick has posted similar numbers to Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz. Kessler is coming off his best performance last week against Tennessee where he threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns.

Kessler has exceeded everything the coaching staff has expected of him and has shown the leadership, toughness and poise to play the NFL quarterback position. He has intangibles that Hue Jackson and his staff love like his accuracy and pocket poise. Kessler is deserving to start the rest of the season so he can continue to develop and the coaching staff can evaluate his play. If Kessler can continue the development, the Browns could pass on selecting a quarterback in the first round next season and address other key positions.

However, Sashi Brown and the front office are continuing to evaluate the nation’s top college quarterbacks looking to find a franchise quarterback for this organization for the next decade.  This week in the college football quarterback tracker, North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky will be featured.

Height: 6-foot-3; Weight: 220 pounds; Age 22; Class: Redshirt Junior

Mitch Trubisky is in his first season as the starting quarterback for the Tarheels, after redshirting his first year and backing up Marquis Williams the past two seasons. Trubisky has taken the college football stage by storm by throwing 15 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions in his first seven starts of his career.

Trubisky is a native of Northeast Ohio where he attended Mentor High School. At Mentor, during his senior season in 2013, Trubiksy won the Mr. Football award, given to the top player in the State of Ohio each year. Trubisky received scholarship offers from Ohio State, Michigan State and Alabama but choose to attend North Carolina over these bigger programs. Though it is his first season starting, Trubisky has grabbed the attention of NFL scouts around the league with his efficiency and mistake-free play.

Strengths: What stands out about Trubisky is his immense confidence level and his ability to stay cool under pressure. For having only a handful games under his belt as a starter, Trubisky has shown leadership qualities to make one think he has been starting for multiple seasons. In a small sample size, Trubisky has shown to be extremely accurate completing 70.5 percent of passes, which is sevnth in the country. Through the games I have studied, he has shown good ball placement on short and intermediate routes. Along with his accuracy and high completion percentage, the Ohio native has showcased a gunslinger ability to trust in his arm and deliver into small windows.

Trubisky has a good feel in the pocket and makes smart decisions throwing from inside the pocket. His two interceptions came against Virginia Tech two weeks ago, playing in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. He has above-average size and build for an NFL quarterback and has speed to be a dual-threat player. Trubisky does a majority of his work from the pocket, but according to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report, he has a 4.6 40-yard dash time, exceptional for a quarterback.

Needs to Improve: The biggest knack on Trubiksy is something out of his control, his experience. Trubisky is in his first season starting and hasn’t generated enough game tape to get an accurate evaluation on his draft status. With only seven starts, he is very raw and needs to continue to show improvement each week as he is still learning and adapting his own play style.

Additionally, Trubisky has shown inconsistencies in his mechanics and footwork. He sometimes often falls off his throws, not following through causing some passes to be erratic. Also, his throwing motion sometimes gets elongated when he has time in the pocket, as it appears he “winds up” so to speak when throwing. Mechanics and footwork are both aspects of his game which can easily improve with repetition, practice and live game action.

Early NFL Comparison: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons 

Like Matt Ryan, Trubisky has a solid build for the quarterback position. Like Ryan, he shows great accuracy on short and intermediate routes. Both have good arm strength and show the capability to make every throw necessary for an NFL quarterback. He compares similar to Ryan due to his natural poise and pocket presence and natural arm talent.

Both do a majority of their work from the pocket, but have the ability to extend plays with their legs. Thus far in his early career, Trubiksy has shown to be very efficient completing over 70 percent of his passes and only throwing two picks. This is similar to the style of play in “Matty Ice,” who led the league in completion percentage in 2012 and does a good job of protecting the football.

Verdict: Trubisky has been impressive thus far in 2016 and has jumped onto the radar of scouts and coaches around the league. However, with very little starting experience, Trubisky will benefit from returning to school for his fifth-year senior season and gaining more collegiate experience where he can define his mechanics and footwork. If he leaves school early after this year, he will definitely gain interest from NFL teams but won’t have enough film and experience to be a first-round selection. He will be projected in rounds 2-3 compared to being one of the top or the top quarterback prospect in the 2018 class if he chooses to return to school. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report agrees that he will benefit from another season with the Tarheels.

Highlights of Trubisky and North Carolina in their win last week against Miami 

Deshaun Watson, Clemson 

Watson remains my top quarterback prospect at the midway point of the college football season. Although at times he has played down to his competition, he has still done enough to keep Clemson perfect at 7-0 and has shown his natural abilities that make scouts rave about him. Watson remains a top Heisman contender His dual-threat, playmaking ability and his starting experience make him my front runner in this draft class to warrant an early first-round draft selection.

Deshone Kizer, Notre Dame 

Kizer’s draft status took a hit last week, after being benched for part of last week’s game against Stanford for throwing two interceptions. Notre Dame is now 2-5 on the season and head coach Brian Kelly showed his lack in Kizer last week in a struggling performance. Kizer still has all the raw talents and intangibles scouts love, but shows inexperience and his coach may be hurting his NFL development. Kizer remains in first-round consideration but his draft stock is as low as its been since his emergence.

Brad Kaaya, Miami 

Thus far in the draft process, there seems to be no middle ground on the consensus of Brad Kaaya. Some involved in the draft believe Kaaya is the top quarterback in this draft class, while others believe he has been unimpressive and has failed to dominate college competition.

Kaaya has much to prove to be a clear top choice in the draft but remains one of the more intriguing options at this point. NFL GM’s are seeing Kaaya up close in person to accurately depict his draft value.

More from Dawg Pound Daily

This article originally appeared on