Despite various attempts to suggest the contrary, Brandon Weeden has opened Cleveland Browns Organized Team Activities (OTAs) as the starting quarterback.
ESPN Clevland’s Tony Grossi reports that Weeden, while he may have merely been given the job due to a lack of serious alternatives and could very well be on a one-year audition, is firmly running with the first team while Jason Campbell and Thad Lewis are second and third, respectively.
“The Chudzinski-Turner offense – a vertical passing game played off a power running game – would seem to be an ideal change for a team that invested first-round draft picks last year in Weeden and Trent Richardson,” writes Grossi.
Earlier this week on WKNR’s Cleveland Browns Daily , Weeden said to host Vic Carucci, “I looked at (receiver) Greg Little walking in and said, ‘What do you think?’ And he’s like, ‘This is fun.’ That’s what we want. We want to go out and have fun. Usually as a receiver and a quarterback, that’s dropping back and slinging it around a little bit. That’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna throw the football down the field. We’ve got guys that can go get it. It’s fun to come to work every day.”
With the Browns adding slot recievers Davone Bess and David Nelson, they are giving Weeden the weapons they feel he needs to flourish in an offense that arguably suits his skill set better than the one employed by former head coach Pat Shurmur.
In 2012, the strong-armed Weeden threw for nearly 3,400 yards, but did so with a passer rating of 72.6 with an average of 6.55 yards per attempt. He has been working out for the large part of the offseason, including private work with former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke.
[Related: In 2013 the Browns are betting on defense and hoping for offense]
