It’s time to grade and rank the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks ahead of training camp.
The Clevland Browns have made big changes to the quarterback room this season. The team has literally torn down and rebuilt the entire position with the thought that they’ll be better for it. Out was Baker Mayfield and in is Deshaun Watson.
Not only that but Case Keenum was traded so the Browns can bring in Jacoby Brissett. These were controversial moves for any number of reasons, but the one we won’t be addressing is the allegations against Watson.
I’ve spoken at length about them, and how I feel about him. I don’t like Watson and I don’t want him on the Browns, but he is, and we gotta deal with that as things are, not as we wish it were. That doesn’t mean I’m done talking about Watson and his legal issues, as I’m not. It’s simply that this piece is about talent evaluation ahead of camp. That’s all this is.
I will talk about the potential impact of a suspension, however, so be prepared for that.
So how are we grading each guy and what do the grades mean?
- F – expected to be out of the league before the end of his rookie contract
- D – practice squad guy
- C – could get minutes as a backup
- B – starter
- A – among the league’s best
This is part of a longer series that will see this site review each position ahead of training camp. We’ve already talked about the receivers, tight ends, and running backs previously. Monday we’ll talk about the offensive line and Tuesday will start the defense with the defensive tackles.
Ranking and Grading the quarterbacks
3. Joshua Dobbs
Joshua Dobbs seems like a nice guy. I’m not intensely familiar with him as a person prior to arriving on the Browns earlier this offseason but he seems decent enough. He’s quick enough, pulling down a 4.6 40-yard dash, and has had a solid collegiate career to warrant being in the NFL but he’s not a good enough passer, nor a fast enough runner to make a difference at the NFL level.
Grade: F
2. Jacoby Brissett
When we look at Jacoby Brissett’s collegiate career, it’s actually kind of impressive. He threw 44 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions across two seasons, for about 5,000 yards. Here’s the issue, however. He completed just 60% of his pass attempts. In the pros, that’s not the worst thing but in college, you want a much higher completion percentage. Brissett’s inaccuracy has continued in the NFL, throwing just above 60% for his career. He’s not a turnover machine, which is good, but he’s also not going to beat teams with deep balls either. He’s a good guy to manage a team for a game or even three, but a whole season? He’s not that kind of player.
Grade: D+
1. Deshaun Watson
Before he sat out the 2021 season, Deshaun Watson was an easy Top 5, at least, Top 7 quarterback. With a year off, however, we don’t know how he’ll bounce back but more on this later. The other issue that circles Watson and holds him back, is that he’s had some really bad games in bad weather games before. Fans were all over Baker Mayfield in 2020 for his 12-20, 132-yard performance against the Texans, but Watson was just as bad in that game, going 20-30 for 163 yards and a touchdown. That was Mayfield’s third season in Cleveland, and eventually, Watson will have his first. Watson isn’t going to be the exception to Cleveland’s weather. As long as the Browns play outdoor home games from October to January, it’s very likely that the weather will add to the opponents that the team has to play against and Watson has already shown to struggle when the weather gets too moody.
Grade: A-
Positional Grade and Evaluation
The Browns’ backups are not good, not at all. With Case Keenum, you had a track record of him going to the playoffs, albeit thanks to a good running game. Still, that didn’t make Keenum a great passer. It just made him a known commodity, like Brissett. Unlike so many other discussions on this team, we know what Jacoby Brissett is, and that’s what’s bothersome. We know Brissett can’t lead a team to the playoffs. We’ve seen him try three other times before.
If he’s forced to carry the Browns long-term, the team’s in trouble.
As for Joshua Dobbs, the Browns have him just for practice, as he plays similar enough to some other NFL players, even though he is nowhere near as talented.
Unlike so many other positions, the Browns’ grade on quarterbacks comes down to Watson. If Watson is healthy, doesn’t lose a step due to his time off, and doesn’t miss most, if not all of 2022, the Browns should be ok. I don’t see the Browns putting up big numbers under Watson, but I think a 3,000-yard, 20 touchdowns, 8 interception season, with a completion percentage of around 65% is the baseline.
That’s taking into effect the Browns’ new playbook, Kevin Stefanski’s bad play-calling and management, lackluster receivers, and a downplayed but still steady focus on the running back positions. It also factors in the decline athletes have when they take significant time off.
Taking time off isn’t the same as being out with an injury. When you’re injured, you’re still active, still working out and you’re still pushing yourself. When you’re just out, for whatever reason, athletes don’t keep the same drive. It happens all the time, in all sports. Guys like Le’Veon Bell, Rob Gronkowski, and heck even Michael Jordan all looked bad after taking more than a year off.
Yet the name that makes the most sense to me when looking at Watson is UFC fighter, Connor McGregor. When McGregor was on top of the world, he was 28 years old. A two-division champion, the biggest draw in the UFC, and arguably the most athletic fighter in two different weight classes. He was a fighting video game character come to life. Then, at 28, he took two years off, fought Floyd Mayweather, came back to the UFC at 30, and got walloped by Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Since his return against Nurmagomedov, and before any major injuries, he was just 1-3 with his lone win being over a long-washed Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. That time off affected McGregor. He wasn’t the same guy and he didn’t have the same drive. Part of it was he got paid. The other part of it is that he saw himself as too good to be beaten.
Watson has been dramatically defiant during these proceedings, and the man now has a locked-in, guaranteed $230 million contract. He’ll likely miss a majority, if not all of the 2022 season, and if and when he comes back, he’ll have missed two full years, be 28 years old, and be sitting on a pile of cash.
Just like McGregor. The two have more similarities, as both men have been in numerous out-of-competition incidents that have tarnished their names. That’s not something easily shaken off. That stuff ways on you, clearly.
If you’re concerned about the time-off and lack of motivation affecting his gameplay long-term, I don’t blame you. We see this type of scenario play out all the time when guys get mega-deals. Will Watson still have the drive to be good? We’ll find out.
Whenever that is.
This is going to be very interesting because this position will be getting two grades. A raw, pure, facts-driven evaluation as if nothing is going to happen, and a reality-based evaluation based on the assumption that Watson may miss a lot of, all of, or even more than just the 2022 season.
If the Browns have Watson, they have a shot at the playoffs. If they don’t have Watson, well, I’m sure Houston will enjoy having a Top 5 draft pick from us.
Grade with Watson: B+
Grade without Watson: F