Analyst Says One Thing Will Determine Taylen Green’s NFL Future

There is much more that goes into being a successful NFL quarterback than exceptional physical gifts. Everyone who makes it in the league is a well-above-average athlete with an impressive skill set.

So, despite the considerable hype surrounding Taylen Green, who was the Cleveland Browns’ sixth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the rookie still has a long way to go. He can no longer simply rely on being faster and stronger than everyone else.

Coming out of Cleveland’s recent minicamp, analyst Brad Crawford named the biggest improvement Green must make, and that is his ability as a typical pocket passer.

“The biggest knock on Green is consistency from the pocket. At the NFL level, especially in a system that still demands full-field reads and timing anticipation, sporadic footwork and an elongated throwing motion can be quickly exposed. Green’s tendency to drift under pressure or rely on his legs to solve clean passing concepts worked in college because he was often the best athlete on the field. In Cleveland, that won’t be the case,” Crawford wrote.

Fortunately, Green may have one of the best head coaches to help him make this transition. Todd Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens for the past three seasons, when he got to work very closely with Lamar Jackson.

It should be remembered that when Jackson was entering the league in the 2018 NFL Draft, there was serious thought that he would be used as a wide receiver rather than as a quarterback based on his physical profile. The Ravens wisely chose him at the end of the first round, left him at his Heisman Trophy-winning position, and have been playoff contenders every year since.

Jackson did have to refine his game, and he has arguably become one of the better pocket passers in the league while still presenting a significant threat with his running ability. If Green is willing to work on the finer points of the position through film study and practice, his ceiling could approach Jackson’s level of play, as the young quarterback already believes.

Playing in the very competitive SEC in college, Green was able to generate more than 100 plays of 20-plus yards in his final two seasons at Arkansas. However, he also struggled with accuracy, turnovers, and sacks.

He could prove to be a valuable gadget player for the Browns at the start of his career, while he works on his shortcomings to potentially become much more than that going forward.