QB coach: Brandon Weeden is Cowboys' most improved player
It's been 15 months since the Browns released Brandon Weeden, who has found new life in Dallas.
By
Ryan Wilson
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2 min read
It's been 15 months since the Browns released Brandon Weeden, their 2012 first-round pick who (at the time, anyway) was the latest franchise quarterback to fall well short of expectations in Cleveland. The team drafted Johnny Manziel a few months later, and he replaced Weeden as the face of failure for an NFL team that is intimately familiar with losing.
Weeden, meanwhile, signed with the Cowboys before the 2014 season and played some of the best football of his brief career. In five games, including one start, he completed 58.5 percent of his passes, including three touchdowns and two interceptions. His passer rating of 85.7 was also a career best.
And through several weeks of offseason workouts, Weeden's only gotten better.
“I think he’s probably the most improved player,” Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said, via ESPN.com. “He just has a great understanding of the concepts, of the protections, calling the plays, all those things. He’s made a big jump this year.”
Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan agreed.
“I think he’s had a great offseason,” he said. “We’re in the process so we’ll see, but I think everybody gets more comfortable the more they’re in a system. This is really a little bit similar to what he’s had his last year in Cleveland, but it was his third system in three years. That’s not easy for guys. Now it’s the same system two years in a row. That’s a benefit for him, and you see that on the practice field.”
At the very least, Weeden is a nice insurance policy against a Tony Romo injury. Romo has had multiple back surgeries in recent years but even at 35 he remains incredibly resilient, missing just two starts since 2011.
“It’s just a comfort thing,” Weeden said of his improvement. “Now I can really fine tune what we’re doing because I’m not having to go home to study for three hours just learning plays and calling plays and doing all that. Now I can out and fine tine what I want to do, work on reading defenses, work on understanding everything versus just making sure I don’t screw the first part of it up. I appreciate that from Sticks [Wilson]. That’s a good comment because I busted my ass. I’ve worked so hard this offseason, training wise, throwing wise to put myself in position.”
Given the Browns' luck, Weeden will take over once Romo retires and go on to have a Hall of Fame career.
