NFL Draft 2013: Browns will work out E.J. Manuel

Many people questioned Cleveland’s selection of Brandon Weeden in the first round last year. It certainly seems that the Browns are starting to agree. Is Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel going to be the answer?

by Kenneth Arthur

Mar 28, 2013, 9:15 PM UTC

USA TODAY Sports

E.J. Manuel is next man up on the Cleveland Browns' list of quarterback workouts, according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. The team will work out the Florida State quarterback on April 5 in a private session.

The Browns selected Brandon Weeden in the first round last year to solve their quarterback problems, but middling results as a 29-year-old rookie starter failed to impress anyone for his long-term potential. With a new regime in place, Weeden is a hot seat candidate, and the newly-signed Jason Campbell has already been targeted as competition for Weeden.

Weeden started 15 games as a rookie and completed 57.4 percent of his passes for 3,385 yards, 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions as Cleveland went 5-10 in his starts. It would also be important to note that the best receiver for the Browns was Josh Gordon, a rookie out of Baylor taken in the second round of the supplemental draft. Whether it had been Weeden or Colt McCoy or Seneca Wallace at quarterback, Cleveland clearly lacked weapons. But it is also not hard to see why the Browns are working out quarterbacks available in this draft, even though it could be hard to see them land Manuel.

Unless the Browns take him with their sixth-overall pick, the Browns don't select again until the third round thanks to the pick they used on Gordon last year. NFL Draft Scout rates Manuel as the fourth-best quarterback in the draft and projects him as a second-round pick. With several teams other than Cleveland looking for QB help, namely the Cardinals, Bills, Jets, Raiders, Jaguars, and Eagles, it would take quite a slide for him to get to the Browns in the third round.

They would likely have to move up, or see Manuel as a franchise quarterback worthy of a first-round pick. They’ll start to make that decision on April 5 after his workout.