BEREA, Ohio -- Robert Griffin III may be No. 1 in Hue Jackson's eyes, but he's No. 32 in the opinion of many NFL coaches and personnel executives.

A day after Jackson named Robert Griffin III the starting quarterback of the Browns, he was ranked 32nd out of 33 starting quarterbacks in the NFL by a poll of 42 NFL coaches and personnel executives. 33 are included because the 49ers have not yet decided between Colin Kaepernick (No. 29) and Blaine Gabbert (No. 30).

The poll was conducted by ESPN's Mike Sando, who was at the Browns facility on Monday and Tuesday.

Sando interviewed 10 general managers, five head coaches, seven offensive coordinators, five defensive coordinators, eight personnel evaluators and seven other position coaches/executives for his third annual NFL QB Tier Rankings.

The rankings are part of the ESPN Insider subscription service and not available to everyone.

The tiers are as follows:

Tier 1: Can carry his team each week. Team wins because of him.

Tier 2: Can carry team sometimes but not as consistently.

Tier 3: Legit starter but needs heavy run game/defense to win.

Tier 4: Might not want this guy starting all 16 games.

Tier 5: Do not think this guy should be starting.

Griffin, who will start for the Browns after being demoted to third-team quarterback in Washington last season, ranked as a Tier 4 passer and just one from the bottom. The only quarterback ranked lower was Case Keenum of the Rams.

Griffin tumbled four spots from his 2015 ranking of No. 28.

One offensive coach told Sando last summer said he thought Griffin was 'finished' because his big ego would prevent him from hitting the requisite rock bottom to build his career. The coach placed Griffin in the fifth tier again this summer.

While some of the insiders believe Griffin's career can be salvaged, none sounded sure of it.

"I think there is hope because there are some traits, but I don't think he is going to be the decision-maker Hue is used to or wants," one GM said. "Hue is demanding on the ball coming out on time to the right place accurately, and I just am not sure that is what he is going to find in him. (Griffin) has been the guy who views himself as the guy to make the play, rather than let the other guys make the play."

One personnel man questioned whether or not Griffin has the playmakers here to revive his career, but he hasn't seen the likes of Corey Coleman, Terrelle Pryor, Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson -- not to mention Josh Gordon on the horizon.

At least one quarterbacks coach has some faith in Jackson to get the most of Griffin.

"I think it is going to be fun to watch Robert because Hue Jackson is very creative," he said. "I'll just be interested in what he asks him to do. Robert is smart enough to read defenses, but it is new to him. He never had to do it at Baylor. The kid was a true junior coming out. It is a big learning curve."

Interestedly, Griffin ranked lower than Josh McCown, who's currently his backup.

A look at some of the other quarterbacks in the AFC North:



3. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers, Tier 1

Roethlisberger received 33 top tier votes and moved up from No. 4 last year. He's one of only three tier ones, along with Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

"He is a stud," a quarterbacks coach said. "He does some s--- that is just off the map. There are some things that fall apart, and he gets off schedule and that guy just makes plays. He has a hose. He is huge. He is so hard to bring down. He is competitive. He is gritty. He is smart. We played him this past year and our defense struggled that day because of him. That guy can win for you every week."

12. Joe Flacco, Ravens, Tier 2

Flacco, coming off a torn ACL, has moved down two spots from last year.

"He is unbelievably physically gifted," a coordinator familiar with Flacco said. "He makes some throws that are unbelievable. But I don't think he processes things enough mentally to become a 1. I don't think he can lead a team or carry a team. He can take what is there, and if you give him help, he can be pretty good."

15. Andy Dalton, Bengals, Tier 2

Dalton, who finished second in the NFL with a 106.3 rating last season, climbed three spots to No. 15 despite losing Jackson as his coordinator and two of his best receivers in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu.

"You can argue the fact that he had a plethora of talent around him and he did," one pro personnel director said. "But you see the way the team played with him at the helm, and then you see how it fell off dramatically when they put another guy in there to manage it. He has grown, he knows his limitations and he plays within those and doesn't hurt your team. That is the maturation of a quarterback who knows what he needs to do to make his team successful."