Tyrod Taylor (left) and Baker Mayfield (right) give the Browns two real options at quarterback.

John Kuntz, cleveland.com

EXPLAINING 3RD & SHORT

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's nice to know that when Cleveland is backed against a wall, Myles Garrett will be there. And it's also nice to know that Garrett admires building things and sticking around -- and not jumping onto winners.

Garrett's radio interview on 92.3 The Fan this week criticized Kevin Durant for taking what Garrett clearly saw as a shortcut to success by joining Golden State. That's the kind of thing that should have endeared Garrett to plenty of Cavs fans.

But it also should have reassured Browns fans about how their No. 1 pick from 2017 views team-building while part of a franchise that has lost 31 of its last 32 games.

"Me, I'm too competitive to try and ride on somebody's coattails to get a W," Garrett said.

In Cleveland, he'll always be a coattail. If the Browns are going to win, they're going to be riding him.

Even if this is what any player should say, it's a plus to hear a top pick on a bad team make that clear. Now onto 3rd & Short, a column about Cleveland sports that would happily ride the coattails of any successful entity willing to give us a hand.

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Either Baker Mayfield (left) or Tyrod Taylor (right) should provide the Browns better quarterback play than they've received in decades.

John Kuntz, cleveland.com

EVEN AVERAGE QB PLAY COULD TRANSFORM THE BROWNS

Average quarterback play is such a foreign concept in Cleveland, Josh Gordon saw stars this week playing with Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield.

"The most talented quarterbacks I've seen come through here, by far," Gordon said after the opening of Browns mandatory minicamp. "I don't see how it can go wrong, really."

Such optimism. But in the land of no quarterbacks (otherwise known as The Land), the competent quarterback is king.

Every Cleveland sports fan knows about the never-ending quarterback jersey and the 28 starters since 1999. But why stick to old misery when you can analyze past quarterback misery in new and exciting ways?

Consider this.

The Browns, as a team, haven't ranked in the top half of the NFL in team QB passer rating since ... 1992. That's 25 years and 22 seasons without the Browns able to claim they were even above average in throwing the football.

Here, in all its glory, is the Browns team passer rating and NFL rank, from 2017 to 1992:

2017: 61.4 (32)

2016: 77.4 (28)

2015: 84.0 (25)

2014: 72.9 (31)

2013: 75.7 (25)

2012: 73.5 (29)

2011: 72.8 (29)

2010: 75.0 (28)

2009: 55.8 (32)

2008: 54.8 (32)

2007: 80.7 (17)

2006: 69.8 (29)

2005: 74.6 (22)

2004: 74.9 (23)

2003: 75.2 (19)

2002: 80.5 (18)

2001: 74.3 (23)

2000: 63.4 (29)

1999: 73.5 (22)

1995: 76.6 (18)

1994: 68.6 (25)

1993: 76.2 (15)

That's a long time to get back to 1992, when the Browns ranked eighth in the league at 82.7, thanks to Mike Tomczak, Bernie Koser and Todd Philcox combining for 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The best passing teams in the NFL that year? San Francisco (Steve Young), Atlanta (Chris Wilson, Wade Wilson, Billy Joe Tolliver) and Dallas (Troy Aikman).

That's ancient NFL history. Billy Joe Tolliver? Since then, from 1993 to 2017, the Browns have thrown 415 interceptions and 389 touchdowns. Their 1.11 touchdown passes per game is the worst in the league since 1993. Their 1.18 interceptions per game is second-worst in the league behind the Cardinals.

It's beyond miserable.

That can make Taylor and Mayfield seem like magic. That's not how anyone needs to be viewing them.

Here are three things to keep in mind about the Browns and their quarterback situation, and how 25 years of not even average play can affect how you think about the quarterbacks now.

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Tyrod Taylor is just what the Browns need. There's no reason to make him out to be more than he is.

John Kuntz, cleveland.com

3. You think Tyrod Taylor is a savior

Taylor stands out in Cleveland because he's exactly what Browns quarterbacks haven't been -- average.

Taylor's rating last year ranked 19th in the league. The Browns haven't ranked better than 19th in team passer rating in over a decade. So a Browns quarterback coach may be inclined to say things like this just because in Cleveland, above-average can seem like All-Pro.

"He's just coming into his own and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We haven't seen the best from him. ... There's no limitations with him. He can throw it down the field, he can run the zone read stuff, he can run a conventional offense. Anything you want him to do, he can do those things and like I said, he's just coming into his own so we're still finding out all of the areas that we can get him into."

That's what Browns QB coach Ken Zampese said about Taylor on Thursday, as reported by Mary Kay Cabot. But actually, we've seen a lot of Taylor's iceberg. He's a three-year starter with a 22-20 record, 51 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

He's smart and efficient and competent. He's exactly what the Browns needed and haven't had. But he ranked 23rd in the league last season in yards per attempt. There are so many reasons to like Taylor, but there is no reason to talk as if the Brown got something over on the rest of the league by getting some sort of rising star for a third-round pick.

Hue Jackson loves hyperbole. It sounds like Zampese does, too. But for fans, there's no reason to buy into this kind of extreme hype from the coaching staff.

Don't let 25 years of a below average passing game make you believe Taylor is something he isn't. That will just leave you disappointed when his veteran competence should do nothing but make you breathe a sigh of relief.

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Baker Mayfield is a great option for the Browns, whenever they go to him. But so is Tyrod Taylor, the starter now. Don't get too worried about the specifics of the QB battle this season.

John Kuntz, cleveland.com

2. You let a quarterback battle become a problem

TOO MANY GOOD QUARTERBACKS!

Woe are the Browns, who are stuck between Taylor and Baker Mayfield, a solid veteran and the No. 1 pick. What will they do? Who should win the job? When does Mayfield take over? How will the decision be made?

Regardless of the answers to those questions, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine and it's fine.

We live in a world where K-E-V-I-N H-O-G-A-N started a game at quarterback for the Browns last season because he completed a drive without throwing an interception and Hue Jackson suddenly thought he gave the Browns the best chance to win.

T-O W-I-N.

So we cannot then slide into a world where a choice between Taylor and Mayfield is an issue. It's not that you trust Jackson. It's that there are two actual options, and plenty of reasonable choices to make on how to handle those two options.

Just like with the draft itself, when the Browns had multiple ways to go with the No. 1 pick at quarterback, don't let your preference on how to handle this make you angry if it goes another way.

It's fine, because no matter what, it's so much better than it used to be.

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Robert Griffin III (left) and Cody Kessler (right) were part of the Browns' league-worst QB play the last two seasons.

John Kuntz, cleveland.com

1. You underestimate what competent QB play can do

DeShone Kizer and Hue Jackson killed the Browns last year.

Jackson trying Robert Griffin III, then falling back on Josh McCown and rookie Cody Kessler as the injuries mounted, killed them the year before.

The quarterback play has been so bad during 1-31, it has been difficult to evaluate anything else.

Sure, complain about the defense or the receivers (truly, go ahead and complain about the receivers) or the special teams. But the Browns threw 42 interceptions the past two seasons, five more than any other team. They threw 30 touchdown passes, two fewer than any other team. They completed 57 percent of their passes, better only than Carolina. They were sacked 116 times, 16 more than any other team.

They had a 69.4 rating, when 76.5 was the next worst rating, by the Jets.

So Cleveland was 7.1 points behind New York. For context, when you go to 7.1 points better than New York, to an 83.6 rating, you encompass nine more teams.

That's how much worse the Browns have been than everyone else.

The combined QB play of Kizer, Kessler, RG3, McCown, Hogan and Charlie Whitehurst has been so substandard, fixing one position might be worth four or five wins on its own. Then add in everywhere else you think the Browns have improved.

So it's clear people are hopeful about the Browns.

The first reason is because the quarterbacks were so bad, and now they might be so average.

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Michael Porter Jr. will probably be gone by the time the Cavs pick at No. 8 in the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Stacy Revere, Getty Images

3 REASONS TO NOT GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT THE CAVS DRAFT

3. There's depth

The centerpiece of the Kyrie Irving trade will come to fruition Thursday, but the final countdown to the Cavs making the No. 8 pick in the NBA Draft isn't quite what I thought it would be.

Sure, anytime you draft in the top 10, it's a big deal. The NBA isn't a league of surprises. High picks become All-Stars. Of the 15 players to make All-NBA this year, all were first-round picks and 13 of the 15 were drafted in the top 10.

So No. 8 matters. But one reason not to get too wound up is that there are plenty of options. There are at least 12 picks the Cavs should feel great about at No. 8. Value is there. This isn't a draft with a major dropoff before the top 10, where you're praying for a certain player or two to fall or this pick could flop.

From Trae Young to Collin Sexton, Mikal Bridges to Miles Bridges, Wendell Carter to Kevin Knox (a Kentucky freshman with upside who might be higher on some draft boards than first thought), there will be a player there for the Cavs. So don't panic.

2. The special guys might be gone

That said, the players who the greatest upside likely won't be there at No. 8.

Michael Porter Jr., if healthy, profiles as a potential franchise player at 6-foot-11. A back injury throws a question mark onto his resume, and if that means he falls to No. 8, the Cavs could be in position to catch a break. But reports have Sacramento liking him at No. 2. He'll almost certainly be gone.

Luka Doncic, probably the best actual player in this draft, seems to have gone from in the discussion for No. 1 to something more like No. 4. But no way he gets all the way to No. 8.

And Young, the dynamic college scorer from Oklahoma, seems a decent bet to go between No. 5 and No. 7. If he's your guy, and I think he might be for a lot of Cavs fans, you can't count on him.

To me, Porter and Young are the two prospects with a chance at falling to No. 8 that would fire you up. But I'm not sure they'll be there.

1. The pick should never play for the Cavs

The best case scenario, and one that 65 percent of voters in our recent poll want to happen, is for LeBron James to stay in Cleveland and for the Cavs to add another star. If you want to indulge in Kawhi Leonard fantasies, getting him or a player anything like him would mean surrendering the player picked here in a trade.

Like with Andrew Wiggins, the ideal world for Cavs fans is one in which the player drafted Thursday is a player you never wind up rooting for.

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Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor was the No. 8 pick in the 2011 baseball draft.

Chuck Crow, The Plain Dealer

3 BEST CLEVELAND NON-OBVIOUS DRAFT PICKS OF THE LAST DECADE

3. Cody Allen

Never downplay the chance to grab talent drafted No. 1 overall, like Kyrie Irving, Myles Garrett and Baker Mayfield, especially when that same top spot can at times yield Anthony Bennett. In the last 10 years, the best draft picks in Cleveland have been made at the top of the draft.

But the Cavaliers aren't picking at the top. They're going to have to pluck a star from the mix. Assessing the best draft selections in Cleveland since 2008 that weren't so obvious shows how difficult that can be.

Among others considered for the top three were Duke Johnson (Browns third round, 2015), Joel Bitonio (Browns second round, 2014), Christian Kirksey (Browns third round, 2014) and Jason Kipnis (Indians second round, 2009).

But our third spot went to Allen, a selection in the 23rd round in 2011. He became the second player from the 2011 draft to make the majors, trailing only Trevor Bauer, who was the No. 3 overall pick in Arizona. Now, 135 saves later, Allen has provided ridiculous 23rd-round value. He's probably one of the 10 best players from that draft.

2. Alex Mack

There have been some decent later picks in Cleveland, but they didn't give much to their Cleveland teams. The idea is to get value from talent, not just snag players who later prove themselves elsewhere. So, for instance, the Cavs taking Danny Green in the second round in 2009, and Jae Crowder in the second round in 2012 (and immediately trading him) didn't make much of a difference here.

Mack, drafted in the first round in 2009, provided value in Cleveland before moving on. Mitchell Schwartz was a similar pick in 2012 as a second-rounder. Both were key offensive line starters, but Schwartz played four seasons at tackle in Cleveland before the Browns let him go as a free agent. Mack played seven seasons at center.

It's easy to chart the Browns failures at trading down, but this one worked. Cleveland traded the No. 5 pick to the Jets, who selected quarterback Mark Sanchez, and traded down two more times before taking Mack at No. 21. He is one of 11 players from that 32-player first round to make a Pro Bowl. He made three with the Browns and the last two in Atlanta.

1. Francisco Lindor

Here it is Cavs -- what can be done with a No. 8 pick in the first round.

The Indians took a 17-year-old shortstop with the No. 8 pick in 2011, passing on several established college pitchers, including current Yankees starter Sonny Gray, to pick a 17-year-old defensive whiz with offensive potential.

The Indians easily could have gone with a pitcher, especially with 25-year-old All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera the best player on the team at the time. But the Indians loved Lindor. Imagine if they hadn't.

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How nice would Baltimore's Manny Machado look in the Indians lineup?

Mitchell Layton, Getty Images

3 NON-MANNY MACHADO BATS FOR THE INDIANS TO TRADE FOR

3. Adam Jones, Baltimore outfielder

With the trade deadline just over six weeks away, the Indians need to make a deal for a bat as well as bullpen arms.

Jason Kipnis' season-long scuffle still has him hitting under .200. His combined on-base and slugging percentage was .576 entering the weekend, when the average OPS for American League second basemen is .675.

In the outfield, beyond Michael Brantley, the issues remain.

Bradley Zimmer, Rajai Davis, Greg Allen, Brandon Guyer, Tyler Naquin, the designated for assignment Melky Cabrera, and Lonnie Chisenhall entered the weekend with a combined 580 at-bats and this stat line: .233 BA, 9 HR, 51 RBI, 69 runs.

Their combined OPS is .622. The American League average is .712 in center field, and in right field, it's .744.

Overall, the Indians rank fourth in the American League in both team OPS and runs scored. But the top-heavy lineup is being carried by Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Brantley and Edwin Encarnacion.

Right now, they have three dead spots in the lineup in center field, right field and second base. That's at least one too many. A lineup doesn't need to hit one through nine. But it makes it harder to win the World Series, even with a great starting rotation, when you only hit one through five, maybe six.

You can hope that Naquin or Chisenhall is hot at the right time in the playoffs. But even that isn't enough. The Indians need to add a big-time bat, or at least medium-time one. Because they are there, even if it's not Manny Machado, the 25-year-old Baltimore shortstop/third baseman sure to be dealt to a contender.

For instance, there's his teammate Jones. He's a pending free agent who has hit between 25 and 33 home runs the previous seven season. The 32-year-old is a five-time All-Star batting .285 with 10 home runs. He could thrive with a team that has a chance to win it all.

2. Mike Moustakas, Kansas City third baseman

If the trade isn't for an outfielder, dealing for a third baseman so Ramirez can be moved to second and Kipnis benched makes just as much sense. Moustakas is a 29-year-old, two-time All-Star with 13 home runs, after he hit 38 last year. He signed a one-year deal with the Royals in the offseason, and it shouldn't cost all that much young talent for the Indians to get him. He's there for the taking.

1. Manny Machado, Baltimore shortstop

Forget it, I lied. I want Machado on this list, because think of what adding one of the best young players in baseball would do for the Indians. He'll be traded, so some World Series favorite will get that boost. What if it came in Cleveland?

He's a free agent after the season and will break the market. The Indians could never keep him. But six weeks from the deadline, it's something the Indians should at least be considering. Regardless of the young players they would give up (and there would be a lot of them) allow yourself to think about how you'd feel if the Indians pulled off something like this, and your Cleveland infield went Machado-Lindor-Ramirez-Yondor Alonso.

June is for dreaming.

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