Maybe Brandon Weeden is Going to be Alright After All

After last week's dismal performance, it appeared as if the Cleveland Browns might have been a little premature with naming rookie Brandon Weeden the starter over Colt McCoy. Weeden looked awful on the night (3-9, 62 yards, 1 INT) while Colt McCoy wasn't half-bad (6-8, 88 yards).

While it would not have been shocking for the team to open up the competition for the starting job again, they opted to take a different route. Weeden took the snaps in the first half Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers with McCoy and Seneca Wallace covering the second half.

And this time he did well.

The stat line was night and day from last week (12-20, 118 yards) and it showed in his play. Overall it was a good half. He looked better this week making his reads, and was able to step up and make a throw on third down even though he knew he was going to be hit hard.

In all fairness, the defense helped out by giving him great field position, but this time he was able to take advantage of it leading the team to 10 first downs and a 16-7 lead at the half. Touchdowns would have been better, but at least he was able to come away with points. Weeden was also the lucky recipient of a pair of drops by the Packers defense; both passes he never should have thrown. One of the almost-picks probably would have been returned for a touchdown too.

The team has to be happy with what they saw out of Colt McCoy too. On one hand it must be frustrating to see the guy they thought was going to be the QB of the future playing like it after they drafted the next QB of the future. Then again, if he continues to play well (like he did against the Packers in limited action) the team will be able to get much more for McCoy in trade.

Should Weeden continue to progress in the team's next preseason game, Friday, August 24, against the Philadelphia Eagles it would be surprising if the Browns did not start to aggressively market McCoy as trade bait.