There have been 38 starting Cleveland Browns quarterbacks since 1999. 2023 was supposed to be the year that all changed for the team. Cleveland gave up three first-round picks and nearly a quarter billion dollars guaranteed for Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson. But Watson got hurt in the third game of the season and missed several weeks. That injury led to his second, which ultimately put him out for the season.
With three years remaining on his fully guaranteed contract, Watson will be the unquestioned starter entering the 2024 season. But if 2023 taught the Cleveland Browns anything, it’s the value of a backup quarterback.
Evaluating The Cleveland Browns Quarterbacks
Months before Watson’s injuries, salary cap constraints forced General Manager Andrew Berry to take a calculated risk with the Browns quarterbacks. Rather than pay the $8-10 million for 2022 QB2 Jacoby Brissett, Cleveland chose to go with Joshua Dobbs at a fraction of the price.
But Dobbs looked horrifically bad in the preseason. When Arizona offered a 5th round choice for the journeyman, it looked like a gift to the team. That left rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as Watson’s backup. Thompson-Robinson was a fan favorite with electric performances in the preseason.
Thompson-Robinson looked every bit of the green fifth-round rookie he was when the games became real. His horrific first start led to PJ Walker, a bottom-of-the-roster-type journeyman who had only been with the Cleveland Browns for a month. Watson came back… and got hurt. Thompson-Robinson got another chance… and got hurt. The Browns then spun the journeyman quarterback roulette wheel… and hit huge with Joe Flacco. Flacco’s gutty Cleveland December notwithstanding, this isn’t the way Super Bowl-caliber teams should run their quarterback room.
First Among All Browns Quarterbacks: Deshaun Watson
Make no mistake: Deshaun Watson is the first among Cleveland Browns quarterbacks when he is healthy. In his 11 starts for the team (the few plays against the Colts when he was hurt don’t count), Watson has shown flashes of brilliance, spots of confusion, and a fair amount of mediocrity. The good news for Cleveland is those flashes of brilliance increased almost every time out.
Browns fans got their first look at what he could be in a Week 3 rout of the Tennessee Titans, where he completed 82% of his passes with two touchdowns. Though he wouldn’t start again for nearly two months (again, Indianapolis doesn’t count), he followed that up with an impressive 107.5 QB rating in a 27-0 beat-down of the Arizona Cardinals. The next week, Watson rallied from a disastrous first-half performance against the Baltimore Ravens to perhaps the most brilliant half of his career. He completed all 14 of his passes and led his team to an improbable comeback win against the team that wound up with the best record in the league.
Why Has the Quarter-Billion-Dollar Quarterback Struggled?
Part of Watson’s struggles have been Watson himself. He’s made some odd decisions in the pocket and looks like he’s trying way too hard at times. Part of it has been the constantly fluctuating offense of head coach/offensive playcaller Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski’s play design and calling are often innovative but just as often too smart for his own good.
Watson’s slow start in 2023 can be partially attributed to the complexity of the offense he was expected to run. Throughout his career, Watson was at his best when his offenses were designed to let him be a strong-armed improviser. Watson prefers to operate out of the shotgun. He’s comfortable with a deep read early in his progressions. If things break down, Watson can extend/re-shape the play with his feet. But that doesn’t make him Lamar Jackson – Watson is a passer first.
Stefanski started the season with Watson running more of a modified West Coast offense. Watson was under center. There were a lot of funky horizontal plays. Watson has a lot of run/pass options that put Watson in the position of being the primary runner. None of this was in Watson’s wheelhouse. Could he have adjusted to it? Probably. But his Week 3 injury (which likely came on a planned run) precluded that.
Wacko for Flacco
No one expected 38-year-old Joe Flacco to get off the couch and be the best quarterback in the NFL in December. But his near-immediate success in Stefanski’s stripped-down offense proved one thing: This offense works best with a strong-armed gunslinger running a playbook with a much more basic play design. Not only did Flacco flourish, but top receivers Amari Cooper and David Njoku did as well.
The best way that the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks can be treated is in the Flacco mold. Watson’s arm isn’t quite as strong as Flacco’s (who’s is?), but it’s close. He also has that gunslinger/improviser mentality. Or, to put it another way, Stefanski seems to have learned to let the talent do their thing and just put them in positions to win. The play doesn’t have to win the game; the players do.
Who Will be the Second Among the Browns Quarterbacks in 2024?
Joe Flacco could well be the QB2 for the Cleveland Browns in 2024. He certainly played well enough to be handed that job and the roughly $8 million the team denied Brissett. It’s possible, if a little unlikely that another team would offer him a significant chance to start at this point in his career. He’s expressed his love for Cleveland and their fans. So, if Flacco departs, it’ll likely be over a starting job.
That puts him in a similar position as Brissett last season. The Washington Commanders dangled a chance to start in front of Brissett in addition to the money. That didn’t happen, though, and Brissett played sparingly. It’s quite possible that Brissett could book a trip back to Cleveland if he doesn’t get an opportunity for a starting job elsewhere, either. Brissett’s arm doesn’t compare to Watson’s or Flacco’s, however, and that’s often been a downfall in his career. But, like Watson, he can create additional time in the pocket with his feet and generally makes good decisions with the ball.
Then there’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson looked much better in his later season starts than his earlier ones. He was known to have one of the strongest arms in the 2023 draft class. He’s also a gunslinger in his own right, so he would look like a natural backup to Watson. But he needs to bulk up a lot. He’s listed at 191 pounds, and that’s incredibly generous. He probably needs to add at least 20 pounds of muscle to sustain constant NFL pounding. His analytical game is also very green. He’s probably at least two years away from being ready for significant playing time and fits best as QB3 for the foreseeable future.
Main Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
