Just because Brady Quinn has signed, that doesn't make him the starting quarterback.

Most Browns fans know that.

The Browns have had 15 practices without Quinn, 15 practices for Derek Anderson or Charlie Frye to show that one of them deserves to start.

When Browns coach Romeo Crennel had to name a starter for the preseason opener Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, he sounded like a man confronted with an incomprehensible word problem on a SAT test. It was a multiple choice question: A) Anderson. B) Frye. C) Ken Dorsey.

You also had a feeling that he was ready to say D) None of the above. But that's not an option on game day. Someone has to play quarterback.

So Crennel said . . . well . . . I guess . . . it's Frye.

Sort of.

Or maybe not.

Crennel said he would decide on a quarterback by game time, but for now, he has listed Frye as No. 1 because the league makes him fill out a depth chart.

It's almost like Crennel had to decide between having a tooth pulled or a root canal performed by a hammer and railroad spike.

If you're Quinn, that's a sign that you could catch up quickly assuming you are able to play reasonably well. There's no guarantee of that. The rookie from Notre Dame showed little in the minicamps to indicate that he was immediately ready for prime time.

That's true of most rookies, and this holdout certainly didn't help that situation. He will come into camp as the No. 4 quarterback behind Frye, Anderson and Dorsey. He should be able to, at least, climb past Dorsey by the start of the season.

If you're a Browns fan and a Quinn fan you should want the rookie to sit for several weeks. Haven't we watched enough rookies chewed up in this league?

Please save the conspiracy theories about the Browns playing hardball in the contract talks so that Quinn would hold out and not be forced to immediately start. That was not an option, based on the minicamps. None of the quarterbacks looked good, but he was the least impressive.

Quinn now enters this stew of quarterbacks.

Crennel had to be hoping Anderson or Frye would have taken command of the position, at least in the short term. That's not the case, based on what the coach said and from what many fans and media types who have watched training camp have said.

The good news is the games are beginning. We will have people actually allowed to tackle the quarterback. It will resemble real football. It should give some clues, because practices are often so fragmented with players and plays ever changing that the quarterback can't develop any rhythm or confidence.

A year ago in training camp, the Browns were talking about ''preparing, preserving and protecting'' Frye, as he was the unquestioned starter.

After talking about how Frye had very little chance to prove himself thanks to the sad hash of an offensive line, two offensive coordinators and the general disorganization that comes with a 5-11 pro team.

Browns General Manager Phil Savage then upgraded the offensive line (drafting Joe Thomas, signing Eric Steinbach), followed by trading next year's No. 1 pick to the Dallas Cowboys for the rights to Quinn.

That tells you Savage has doubts about his quarterbacks and confidence that eventually Quinn can emerge as a starter.

This puts Crennel in an interesting spot of trying to figure out how to divide practice time between his two questionable quarterbacks of the present and his project of a future quarterback.

What the Browns need Saturday is for someone Frye or Anderson to have a good game and establish himself as No. 1. The season opens in a month with the Pittsburgh Steelers in town.

If Anderson emerges, he will be the sixth starting quarterback in the past six seasons. In the past five years, we've had: Frye (2006), Trent Dilfer (2005), Jeff Garcia (2004), Kelly Holcomb (2003) and Tim Couch (2002).

Many fans will soon want to start the countdown for Quinn. That can wait. The biggest mistake would be playing Quinn too early, not too late. noweb