The Cleveland Browns have followed a familiar script over the years when it comes to their quarterback room.
Draft a rookie, pair him with a “bridge QB” who will hold down the fort for a few games, turn to the rookie, and prosper.
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Sadly, the Browns have mostly missed out on the “prosper” part of the equation, leading to consistent churn at the position since 1999.
Speaking of familiar things, there is one quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft who is equal parts of two of the most polarizing quarterbacks the Browns have employed during the past 25 years: Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt.
Name: Diego Pavia
Position: Quarterback
Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 207 pounds
College: Vanderbilt Commodores
2025 Passing Stats: 13 games, 70.6 completion percentage, 3,539 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 170.4 quarterback rating
2025 Rushing Stats: 13 games, 862 rushing yards, 5.2 yards per rush, 10 rushing touchdowns, 66.3 rushing yards per game
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Career Passing Stats: 53 games, 62.2 completion percentage, 10,255 passing yards, 88 passing touchdowns, 27 interceptions, 151.3 quarterback rating
Career Rushing Stats: 53 games, 3,094 rushing yards, 4.9 yards per rush, 31 rushing touchdowns, 58.4 rushing yards per game
Average “Big Board” Position as of Publishing Date from Mock Draft Database: 293rd overall, projected UDFA
The Draft Network’s Grade/Round Value: Round 6 – Role Specific Contributor
What an Expert is Saying
Lance Zierlein at NFL.com:
Pavia is a short, tough, productive quarterback who plays bigger than his measurables. He elevates those around him and was the main character in Vanderbilt’s shift from doormat to winning program. He’s improvisational, creating explosives that aren’t on the call sheet without playing reckless hero ball. He scans through progressions, throwing with intermediate accuracy, but impatience versus zone can lead to costly mistakes. He can stand and deliver or escape and win with his arm or legs when pressured. However, he lacks ideal mechanics and needs altered launch points for cleaner sight lines and release points. His deep ball is below average. He isn’t explosive or fast, but he’s a force multiplier for the run game, especially near the goal line. Efficiency and success rates check out across most situational filters, but he requires a more tailored scheme. Quarterbacks his size rarely make NFL rosters, but his competitiveness should be a plus as long as he’s willing to accept a role as a backup.
What an Expert is Saying (Bonus Round):
Trevor Sikkema at PFF:
Pavia is the kind of player you wish could just play college ball forever. He’s the underdog everyone tunes in to see topple giants when his team has no business doing so. But when it comes to his pro projection, he’ll likely be viewed as a big underdog once again.
His smaller size, under 5-foot-10, is almost nonexistent in the NFL outside of Kyler Murray and Bryce Young — but he isn’t the runner Murray is and isn’t the passer Bryce was at Alabama. What he does have going for him is experience as an RPO and option quarterback with a “never-say-die” ball-carrier mentality.
He has improved as a passer over the past two seasons and specifically loves to give his receivers a chance outside the numbers against man coverage. He has decent zip on shorter passes but lacks the arm talent for a deep passing game. He also naturally struggles to see over the line of scrimmage, though his numbers over the middle of the field aren’t bad. He has very high passing grades on designed rollouts, though true scramble-drill plays aren’t as successful. He has a bit of a looping throwing motion, but his footwork is strong and consistent.
Fit with the Browns
There are aspects of Pavia’s game, and Pavia himself, that will sound very familiar to Browns fans.
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Pavia had the moxy to propel Vanderbilt into a winning program in his two years with the Commodores, no small feat for a program that has been the SEC’s favorite homecoming opponent for decades. People doubted him, and he proved them wrong.
If Pavia can do that at Vanderbilt, then the same attitude and desire to never back down from a challenge would play well in Cleveland. Just as it did with Baker Mayfield from 2018 to 2020.
Pavia’s size is a major red flag, however, as is the fact that he is being mentored by Johnny Manziel, who spun his own particular brand of magic in Cleveland from 2014 to 2018.
Pick whichever one you want, but this is very much a case of “been there, done that” regarding Pavia and the Browns. Not sure anyone has the stomach to sign up for it again.
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Browns Player Drafting Could Impact
If the Browns draft a quarterback, then Dillon Gabriel is likely the odd man out. (He may be anyway.) If the Browns draft a good quarterback, then Shedeur Sanders could be taking his show somewhere else this fall.
Priority: It is high, but it would likely have to be “high on an inflatable swan in a pool” level for the Browns to bring Pavia to town.
What are your thoughts on Diego Pavia? Should the Browns take a gamble on him? Let us know in the comments!
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