Newsletter: How the Top Three Quarterbacks Stack

We've evaluated the best quarterbacks in the class, what's the stack look like?

(Photo - Getty)

Evaluation season is heating up at Browns Film Breakdown with Jake and I diving into the top three quarterbacks in this year’s class. I hope everyone enjoyed our All-22 breakdowns and got some good information from them. Cam, Shedeur, and Jaxson all do some great things on the field, and I want to go into further detail on my reports.

When we looked at Ward, I gave a quick run down of the Browns grading scale that has been in use since Andrew Berry returned. We’ll be using this scale going forward so Jake and I are on the same page, and everyone gets a feel for how the team grades prospects. The pro grading scale is very similar, but we’ll get to that once we start looking at free agents.

Seven different overall grades determine what the scout thinks the player will be after his second year in the league:

1. 70 — Blue — Difference Maker, Pro Bowl Player

2. 60 — Red — Impact Starter

3. 50 — Gold — Capable Starter

4. 40 — Black — Role Player

5. 30 — Green — Backup

6. 20 — Purple — Practice Squad, Emergency Player

7. 10 — Gray — Training Camp Player, Reject

There’s also a probability grade to determine the scout’s confidence that the player will reach his overall grade:

1. 5 — 90% probability

2. 4 — 70% probability

3. 3 — 50% probability

4. 2 — 30% probability

5. 1 — 10% probability

This is the scale I used for my last three seasons with the Browns. It may have been tweaked a bit in my nearly two years away from the team, but this is a relatively simple scale that can be used to evaluate all positions.

Alright, let’s get into the quarterback analysis and rank.

I used a 1-5 grading scale to determine traits before slapping an overall grade on these guys. 1-5 may be in the reports, but certain words will equal a certain number. A (+) or (-) after a number is a way to add something extra. Saying 3+ in something means he’s not all the way above-average but he’s close, and saying 3- means he’s just barely average in that area. I try not to use the (+) or (-) often, but it’s ok to cheat sometimes.

• 1 = Poor/Replacement Level

• 2 = Marginal/Below-average

• 3 = Average/Adequate

• 4 = Good/Above-average

• 5 = Excellent/Rare

I’ll let the suspense build by starting at No. 3.