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The Cleveland Browns are 0-3, and according to Adam Schefter, they are changing the quarterback.  Derek Anderson will start on Sunday, relegating Brady Quinn back to the bench.  With one weapon, and no help on the offensive line, Quinn did not look good at all in his three starts this year, and Anderson hasn’t looked good since about Week 7 of the 2007 season.  The lone bright spot for the Browns has been WR Braylon Edwards, who is having a strong rebound season following a tough 2008 campaign in which he led the NFL in drops.

And so we arrive at step number two in the Mangini plan.  He’s coming under a lot of fire for completely wasting the preseason with an unnecessary quarterback competition, and of course for losing his first three games as head coach of the Browns.  If you’re Brady Quinn, you probably could have used a whole preseason to play and establish yourself as the quarterback of this team.  If you’re Derek Anderson, it probably didn’t matter one way or another.  But the complete lack of professionalism the Browns have displayed over the first three weeks of the season is completely Eric Mangini’s doing.

Right now, the Browns probably do have a better chance to win with Derek Anderson than Brady Quinn.  But for a team who is staring 1-15 right in the face, is Derek Anderson really the answer to any problem?  On one hand, Quinn is likely to be on the team next year, Anderson is not.  On the other hand, you have an intriguing prospect in Brett Ratliff on the bench.  If you are going to juggle quarterbacks on a bad team, why not juggle Ratliff and Quinn in trying to find your QB of the future?  What in the world does throwing Anderson out there do for the long term health of the franchise?

You have Quinn, and his prospectus has taken a bit of a hit for a poor three game stretch, but he was a legitimate first round draft pick coming out of college who, perhaps through ultra-conservative playcalling, was completing 60% of his passes.  You have Ratliff, who has torn up the preseason in 2008, and didn’t get much of a chance in 2009.  And you have Anderson, who might know the offense the best, but craps the bed every time he is out there on the field.  And…you’re going with Anderson, who is the guy of the group who is nearly certain to be the odd man out in the offseason.  If that’s not desperation for ones job, I don’t know what is.

The Browns are the odds on favorite for the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, and they would probably use the pick on a quarterback.  Can’t say I can blame them.  It might start a Drew Brees-Philip Rivers type situation in Cleveland if Quinn or Ratliff finish the year strong, but the Phil Savage era has created a really big hole to dig out of, and none of the current quarterbacks appear good enough to get the job done.  The offensive line has raw pieces, Braylon Edwards is on the verge of earning an extension, and they have young options at No. 2 receiver.  So quarterback is the natural choice for a really high first round pick in Cleveland.

But I don’t think Eric Mangini will be joining George Kokonis in the draft room.  His mismanagement of this situation would be inexcusable for a first-time head coach, but after a failed stint with the Jets, his days as a head coach are probably over.  And for Browns fans, that day can’t come soon enough.  The Browns need a fresh start, only three games into a new regime.