Cleveland Browns: Brian Hoyer named starter, Aug. 20, 2014

It just makes sense that Brian Hoyer starts in front of Johnny Manziel.

(John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- I bet the Browns offense looks much better during Saturday's game.

Granted, if they can survive their first possession without a sack, a penalty and a badly thrown pass -- it will be a massive improvement. But what this team needed was to settle the quarterback question, which coach Mike Pettine did Wednesday morning by naming Brian Hoyer the starter.

The "competition" between rookie Johnny Manziel and Hoyer managed to make both players worse. While that was not the intent, it was the result.

Pettine is a rookie head coach and his experience is on the defensive side of the ball. While he understands that quarterback is different than any other position -- a good guess is that he didn't know exactly how different.

At least not until this training camp.

But Browns fans have seen quarterback competitions before -- and how they seldom have been productive.

Shown here coaching Kansas City, Romeo Crennel never could decide on a quarterback with the Browns.

In 2007, former coach Romeo Crennel had the infamous "coin toss" to decide who'd start the 2007 preseason opener. The candidates were Derek Anderson and Charlie Frye.

Frye won the regular season job ... sort of.

How about this? Two weeks before the 2007 opener, Crennel said the competition was between Frye and "someone else." He had Brady Quinn and Anderson in camp, and refused to name the other guy.

Frye started the season opener against Pittsburgh, was pulled after a miserable first half -- and Anderson took over.

Looking back, what was the point?

Former Browns coach Eric Mangini had his own painful quarterback competition in 2009.

SAME QUESTION

We may end up asking the same question this season -- what was the point of all the agonizing of trying to even up the snaps and matchups between Manziel and Hoyer.

In 2009, former coach Eric Mangini counted every snap, every twitch, every little thing that you could count as he tried to decide between Quinn and Anderson. Six days before the opener, he still had not named a starter.

The nod went to Quinn. Three games later, Anderson was the starter. A few games later, it was back to Quinn.

Pettine, Mangini and Crennel were all defensive coaches. Is that the reason the "competition" went poorly, or was it simply the quarterbacks?

You can argue that a front office/coaching staff that thought offense first had no luck, either. That was the Mike Holmgren/Pat Shurmur regime. They drafted Brandon Weeden at No. 22 in 2011, and he was basically the starter from the first day of mini-camp.

That also was the case last season with former head coach Rob Chudzinski and offensive coordinator Norv Turner. They decided to see if they could make a starter out of Weeden.

It didn't work, either.

Flashing the "money sign" on draft night did not help Johnny Manziel's image with other NFL players.

STARTING OVER

From the start, it seemed as if the front office and coaching staff favored Hoyer.

They drafted Johnny Manziel at No. 22 (same spot as Weeden and Quinn), and Manziel naturally wanted a chance to start. But it was very obvious that the Texas A&M star would have to make a massive adjustment in terms learning the playbook, operating out of the huddle, taking snaps under center -- and generally growing up quickly in the harsh environment of the NFL.

Would the first-string offense still be looking for its first touchdown had Hoyer been given the job from start of veterans' camp? Who knows? But it's hard to imagine that it would be any worse. Or that it would seem so disjointed. The offense was regressing, looking far worse in the second preseason game than it did in the opener.

That's why Pettine had to make this decision now. Bring some order to the offense. Have coordinator Kyle Shanahan build it around Hoyer and a power running game.

The coaches must know what offense will work best with Hoyer. All they have to do is look at the tapes of the Minnesota and Cincinnati games, where Hoyer led the Browns to victories last season.

In fact, that 17-6 win over the Bengals is probably the textbook for how the Browns want to play this season. Their defense was relentless. Hoyer had two 90-yard touchdown drives. They controlled the tempo.

WHAT ABOUT JOHNNY

The best thing that can happen to this young man is to wait.

So much came so fast to him. For whatever reason, ESPN and other national media outlets decided this 6-foot quarterback was The Next Great Thing. This was not like the Manning brothers, who were drafted No. 1. Or like Andrew Luck, another top pick. Scouts loved those guys.

Eli Manning played in 45 college games, Peyton Manning played in 43. Luck played in 38. Manziel fans compare him to Russell Wilson. Well, Wilson started 50 games. How about San Francisco's Colin Kapernick? It was 48.

As for Manziel, he started 26 games in two years. He has so much to learn. The attention that he received from celebrities didn't help.

My guess is that he didn't intend to come off as arrogant, but actions such as his "money sign" on draft day have made him a target for defenses around the league. Yes, they will take delight in sacking him -- as was the case Monday in Washington.

This is not to write off Manziel. He has above-average arm strength. When he sets his feet in the pocket ... or even on a rollout ... he can be a very accurate passer. But when he tries to scramble and turn into a Johnny Football Highlight tape, he's asking for trouble.

Manziel's mobility is an asset. He needs it to be successful. But he must learn how to use it. Just as he must learn what it means to be an NFL quarterback, on and off the field.

Opening the season behind Hoyer should help in the process.

Odds are, Manziel will play at some point this season. In three of the last four years, the Browns have been forced to start three quarterbacks for a variety of reason. Only once (2001) since 1991 has a Browns QB started all 16 games.

But for now, the Browns must organize and support Hoyer.