We learned earlier today that a number of veteran Browns scouts who were dismissed prior to the 2016 draft actually preferred Carson Wentz–last seen delivering a sterling debut against the Browns–to Jared Goff. Now let’s take a look at a few notes from the league’s north divisions, beginning with more on the Browns’ quarterback situation:
- It won’t come as much of a surprise, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III is now expected to miss 10-12 weeks as a result of his shoulder injury, which means that his season could well be over. Even before Schefter’s report, however, it was expected that RGIII would miss the remainder of the 2016 campaign.
- Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer believes that the Browns will draft a quarterback early in the 2017 draft and that the team will likely have whoever that quarterback is open the season as the starter. As such, Cabot thinks the RGIII experiment is over, even if the team holds an “open competition” in next year’s camp.
- Steelers wideout Eli Rogers, a former UDFA out of Louisville, seemingly came out of nowhere to post six catches for 59 yards and a score in his debut against Washington last week. Rogers spent all of 2015, his rookie season, on IR, but he has earned the trust of coaches and teammates and is set for an expanded role with the team, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes. Pittsburgh OC Todd Haley is an especially big fan of Rogers, and one member of the organization said Rogers has “kind of been [Haley’s] pet project for a while now and I give him a lot of credit. He’s worked very closely with him and brought him along, and he really thinks he can be an impact guy.” Rogers could be the latest in a long line of receivers not drafted in the early rounds that become an integral part of the Steelers’ offense.
- Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes that Lions center Travis Swanson, whom the team selected in the third round of the 2014 draft, has finally begun to show signs of improvement. Swanson’s Week 1 performance against Indianapolis was stellar, and if he can continue along his current trajectory, Meinke says it may be a while before Lions fans see Graham Glasgow, the team’s third round pick in this year’s draft.