Brian Hoyer and his coach think that Brian Hoyer can beat out anyone in this QB class
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| Neither of these guys is the Brian Hoyer we know |
However, it likely won't be until later in the draft, and won't be much of a big story for us, if it happens at all.
One QB story to monitor though is over in Cleveland with the supremely confident former Patriot Brian Hoyer.
Hoyer played in only three games, but won all of them with the Browns. He even brought the Browns within grasp of securing the AFC North for about a second.
Anyway, he tore his ACL in a game against the Bills and now Cleveland's looking for a quarterback in the draft tonight. Hoyer is pretty sure he can beat anyone in this draft class.
“I only played three games before I got hurt, so it’s not like I had a full season under my belt for them to say, ‘Hey, he’s the guy we’re going to go with.’ I don’t blame them for it,” Hoyer told USA TODAY Sports. “No matter what happens in the draft, I’ll have that chance to compete for the starting job, and if it comes down to that, I have the ultimate confidence in myself that no matter who they bring in here, I can beat them out.”
Johnny "Football" Manziel has been linked to the Browns, along with many other prospects. However, Hoyer did look very good for Cleveland before his injury, and he has the experience and knowledge (courtesy studying under Tom Brady) that none of these rookies possess.
It's not just the delusions of Hoyer either. Browns coach Mike Pettine also believed that the former undrafted free-agent can be better than any of these potential first round quarterbacks. At least for a time.
“There will be competition, but I think it will be very difficult, based on my evaluation of this year’s draft class, it will be very difficult for anyone in this draft class to come in and beat [Hoyer] out. I really believe that,” Pettine said. “There’s that certain it factor he has. Just the way he’s attacked his rehab, the way he’s attacked learning a new offense. What jumped out was his accuracy. I think him going through the drill work that we had put the quarterbacks through in their workouts, and compared it to those guys – it was encouraging to see.”
Remember when everyone made fun of Mike Lombardi for saying he would've traded for Hoyer if he became the 49ers GM a few years ago? Who's laughing now?!
Certainly not Lombardi, who is currently on the Patriots "coaching" staff after being fired as the Browns General Manager after just one year. Still, it seems he may have been right about Hoyer.
The young QB also showed promise as a Patriot, and got extensive playing time in both preseason, blowouts and meaningless regular season games in December and January. Remember this?
