BEREA (92.3 The Fan) – Another NFL Draft, and another quest for a quarterback.

Nobody needs to remind general manager Ray Farmer that the Cleveland Browns have had 22 different starting quarterbacks since 1999, and even with the addition of Josh McCown, the position remains unresolved for 2015.

That’s why everybody and anybody is projecting the Browns to go after Oregon’s Marcus Mariota on April 30, but maybe Farmer isn’t as interested as everyone assumes that he is.

“There are things to like about the young man, and those things that you like are the reason that I think he’s being talked about where he’s being talked about in the draft,” Farmer said of the 2014 Heisman trophy winner.

Farmer has heard the rumors, reports and speculation that Mariota is his guy, and he simply laughs at it.

“I don’t know where this stuff comes from,” Farmer said. “Last year somebody asked a question about Marcus Mariota and I answered it differently than everybody else I was talking about. I got to Mariota and said, ‘Yeah, he’s good.’ From that moment on, he’s been my guy.”

He doesn’t buy the idea that a quarterback will fix all that ails the Browns, which is why he won’t mortgage the future to go all in on a player that may or may not project well at the NFL level.

“It’s constantly reportedly that we’re just starved and we’re going to do whatever we’ve got to do to get there and we’re going to trade everything we have to get one person,” Farmer said. “I don’t know why that is, but it seems to make for good media, because people like it. So you read it, you see it and it’s what it is.”

Farmer and the Browns haven’t even worked out Mariota and it doesn’t appear that they will before the draft. Kevin O’Connell worked with him leading up to the NFL Combine before the Browns hired him as quarterbacks coach and apparently that’s all the information Farmer needs.

“There’s no reason to take that any further than we went,” Farmer said.

The Browns still need a quarterback despite investing a first-round pick in 2 of the last 3 drafts on one, but Farmer also doesn’t believe in a quick fix or the expectation that drafting a QB in the first round will solve the problem.

“I get that there’s this notion at times that there’s a silver bullet or there’s this one magic player that’s going to walk in here on a horse and we’re going to start winning games and he’s going to be the reason we did it,” Farmer said. “I just don’t believe in the fairy tale anymore. I just think you got to get your hammer and your nails and you got to go out and build a house and that’s what it’s going to take. You got to take your time and put it together the right way.”

Johnny Manziel has yet to pan out for the Browns, and he may not, but Farmer is willing to be patient and see how it plays out.

“I like the idea of slow brewed, fresh brewed coffee,” Farmer said. “I’m going to grind my coffee beans, I’m going to get my filter out. I’m going to pour it in and let it sit, simmer and I’m going to get a good cup.”

While going after Mariota would have a ripple effect on Manziel, it won’t stop Farmer from pursuing such a move if he feels that is what is best for the organization.

“I’ve got to make the best decision for the Cleveland Browns, not for Johnny Manziel, not for Ray Farmer,” Farmer said.

Farmer made 3 first round trades on day 1 of the 2014 NFL draft and it’s widely assumed that he will be active once again this year. If he wants Mariota, it’ll take No. 12, No. 19 and probably more to do it. But is he willing to make such a bold move a year after trading up 4 slots to select Manziel?

“Sure, why not,” Farmer said with a grin.

The problem with today’s crop of college quarterbacks coming into the league – including Manziel and Mariota – is that they run the spread as opposed to the conventional pro-style offenses, making projecting them at the next level even more difficult for Farmer and the league’s other 31 GMs.

“The NFL is not getting a pipeline of traditional NFL quarterbacks the way they used to,” Farmer said. “When you look at Mariota or any quarterback that’s played in the spread…my son is 12 and they run the spread. I’m like, ‘They can’t even throw the ball but somehow they’re lined up with guys all over the field,’ but it’s kind of become..it’s what it is.

“The league in general has got to figure out how do you take guys from this system, change what they are if you’re going to do something different with them and plug them in. That’s what it comes down to. You either figure out how to make the adjustment or everybody’s going to start running the spread in National Football League.”

And that could ultimately be the reason why there’s a chance that Mariota might not be Farmer’s guy after all.

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