The Cleveland Browns may hold the key to the top half of this weekend's NFL Draft. At the third position, they could take running back Adrian Peterson or quarterback Brady Quinn. Or maybe even wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

So here's hoping they do what's right. Here's hoping they take Adrian Peterson.

Adrian Peterson could be part of the cure for Cleveland's chronic rushing problem. (US Presswire)

It's not just that Peterson is a marvelous back or that he fills an enormous void in the Cleveland lineup. It's not that he reminds some coaches of Eric Dickerson, either, a back so talented he set the league single-season rushing record and was named to the Hall of Fame.

No, the reason for taking Adrian Peterson runs deeper, because it's Cleveland we're talking about. You don't win games in Cleveland in November and December by throwing the ball; you win by playing sound defense and grinding down opponents with an effective rushing game.

Pardon Browns fans if they can't remember. Since the club returned to the NFL in 1999, Cleveland hasn't ranked higher than 20th in rushing, four times hasn't made it past 31st and only once reached the playoffs.

So, yeah, running the ball is a problem.

Now, you're going to solve that problem by drafting, say, Quinn and teaming him with Jamal Lewis or second-year back Jerome Harrison? I don't think so. First of all, there's no guarantee Quinn will make it. In fact, the success rate of first-round quarterbacks is no better than 60-40, and you don't have to remind Browns fans.

They root for the club that made Tim Couch the first pick in 1999.

Couch was part of a draft class that included five quarterbacks in the first round. Only one -- Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb -- remains with the team that chose him. Three others are out of football, while the fourth -- Daunte Culpepper -- awaits an uncertain future in Miami.

Dating back to 1999, there have been 24 quarterbacks taken with first-round picks. Fourteen are starters; 15 if you include Culpepper. That means there have been nine or 10 washouts, and I'd pay attention to those odds if I were Cleveland.

And maybe the Browns are. You can only hope.

Listen, I know a lot more scouts and coaches who think Peterson is a surer shot than Quinn. The dead-bolt cinch, of course, is Georgia Tech's Johnson, but he takes us back to that idea of winning in Cleveland in December by throwing the ball. It doesn't make sense. Or, let's put it another way: It makes more sense to run it.

Hey, the Browns reached the playoffs in 1988 when they had four quarterbacks, including career backups like Mike Pagel and Don Strock, getting serious air time. And where did they get them? The playoffs, that's where. The Browns won four of their last five because they knew how to play defense and because they had Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack.

Now, you want to entrust your rushing attack to Lewis, who is at or near the end of his career? Or to Harrison, who never carried more than four times in any game last season and gained 60 yards for the year? I don't think so. You're better off making a commitment to Peterson, the first back in Oklahoma history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in his first two years.

When Cleveland signed Lewis to a one-year deal I didn't get it. Then when it sent Reuben Droughns to the Giants, I thought I did. Lewis is in Cleveland, I thought, to act as a mentor to Peterson -- the logical pick for a club that last year sank to 31st in rushing and ran for as many touchdowns (seven) as Tennessee quarterback Vince Young.

That made sense.

But what I'm hearing lately does not, and what I'm hearing lately is that Cleveland might make a push for Notre Dame's Quinn. It's not that I don't like Quinn. I do. But I have reservations, and I especially have reservations with Cleveland. I mean, why would the Browns spend millions on the unproven Quinn when they have two young quarterbacks on the roster and Adrian Peterson in the on-deck circle?

People tell me it's because Charlie Frye can't play, but I don't know that. The guy's had 18 games of starting experience with underwhelming results. So what? Look at Peyton Manning's first 18 games. He was 4-14 with 31 TDs and 32 interceptions.

Frye is 5-13 with 14 touchdowns, 22 interceptions. Give him a chance. No, better still, give him an offensive line and someone to carry the football.

Remember, this is Cleveland we're talking about. That means there will be cold and wind and snow and miserable lake-effect conditions that make a solid ground game a more reliable choice in December than a solid passing attack.

That's No. 1. No. 2 is that Browns haven't had someone to pound the football in almost two decades. Well, now they could. Now they have an opportunity to solve a lingering headache with a rare talent.

So solve it. Draft Adrian Peterson.