It is a traditional tenet of the NFL Draft that it is a good idea to take a quarterback every year. That’s especially true if a team doesn’t currently have a clear franchise player at the position.
The Cleveland Browns were hoping to find that long-sought solution in the 2026 NFL Draft, but circumstances prevented them from being able to acquire a sure thing. So, they put off addressing the position until the very late stages.
Using the first pick of the sixth round, which they acquired by trading away one of their multiple fifth-round selections, No. 152 overall, to the Denver Broncos, the Browns drafted Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green. As the No. 182 overall pick, Green can be seen as a low-risk, high-reward type of selection.
Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry revealed what the Browns like about Green, who has impressive size and physical attributes at 6-foot-6, 227 pounds.
“Very mature young man, really strong makeup. He has rare physical gifts. He has size, he has good speed, he has a big arm. He’s gonna need some polish with his game, but he has the work ethic, he has the acumen too,” Berry said.
Browns GM Andrew Berry on drafting QB Taylen Green: “Rare physical gifts … he’s gonna need some polish game but he has the work ethic…” pic.twitter.com/yPx0Vjd0MP
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) April 25, 2026
In two seasons at Arkansas after transferring from Boise State, Green completed 60.4 percent of his pass attempts for 5,868 yards and 34 touchdowns in 25 games. He also ran for 1,379 yards on 295 attempts, but it should be noted that college stats subtract yardage lost when a quarterback is sacked.
Green took 59 sacks in his two seasons at Arkansas, and also threw 20 interceptions and lost 17 fumbles, which are things he will have to work on considerably to have success in the NFL. However, during the draft broadcast on NFL Network, he was compared favorably to Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, another big, athletically gifted quarterback who had similar accuracy and turnover issues in college at Wyoming.
That is not to say Green will become anything close to Allen or Lamar Jackson, whom Todd Monken worked with closely in his time as the offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens. Yet, as the seventh QB selected, and the Browns’ ninth pick of this year’s draft, he was worth a gamble.
Then, if it somehow pays off, it could be seen as one of the better draft picks in Browns history.
NEXT: Browns Draft Arkansas QB Taylen Green
