Washington Post

The 2017 NFL season was defined by the rise of the backup quarterback. Nick Foles stepped in for Carson Wentz and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title. At this point last year, Case Keenum was looking for a backup job in the league; eight months later, he led the Vikings to the NFC championship game. The 2018 draft, on the other hand, will be dominated by five potential franchise quarterbacks. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson could all hear their names called on the first night, and if the majority of them are hits, this draft class has the potential of being remembered in the same vein as the 1983 class the produced John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly or the 2004 class that featured Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. Will the Cleveland Browns finally find their quarterback in 2018? They passed on two potential stars in successive drafts. In 2016, they traded away the opportunity to draft Wentz, who was an NFL MVP candidate for the Eagles this past season before he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in December. They did the same in 2017, trading away the No. 12 pick to the Houston Texans, who then drafted Clemson star Deshaun Watson. All he did was turn Houston’s offense into a point-scoring juggernaut for seven weeks before he tore his ACL in late October.