Cleveland Browns fans should be happy they have Jacoby Brissett and not Russell Wilson

Some Cleveland Browns fans are freaking out about Jacoby Brissett but it could be worse, he could be Russell Wilson.

When the Cleveland Browns were looking for a new quarterback this offseason, I was hoping that if anyone, it would be Russell Wilson. Admittedly I’d still rather have Wilson than the disgraced pile of chaos that Deshaun Watson is, but that’s not the point. The point is that when looking at Wilson’s production, he’s far from an ideal fit. Which is why it makes me happy the Browns have Jacoby Brissett.

Brissett isn’t a great player. He’s serviceable. That’s all he’s asked to be.

One quarterback has a 65% completion percentage, 4 touchdowns to just two interceptions. The other quarterback has a 59% completion percentage, 4 touchdowns, and three interceptions. Quarterback two only has 830 yards, while quarterback one has 1,254.

Both quarterbacks have two wins on the season, but one quarterback (quarterback one) is part of a high-powered offense, while the other is part of a lower-powered offense (quarterback two.)

Quarterback one is Brissett, two is Wilson. Somehow, by some way, Brissett is outplaying a borderline Hall of Famer in Wilson. Madness.

But why? While Wilson has a torn lat in his chest, it goes beyond that, as he’s missing guys who are easily open.

The Cleveland Browns’ offense is low-powered by highly efficient

The Cleveland Browns have to have a constant source of production from the offense to stay in games. They do not score fast and they often take huge chunks of time off the clock. It makes any turnover or punting scenario all the much more damning, as it takes them so long to score. This over-conservative approach does not lend itself to surviving long in shootouts if the defense fails, nor does it serve itself for needing big scores in bulk should they fall behind.

It does, however, lend itself to being highly efficient if it is run correctly. Brissett isn’t asked to do more than he can, which is dink and dunk passes at a nice rate. He also isn’t asked to beat teams on his own. This is something the Broncos are asking Wilson to do. The Broncos have no run game to speak of and the receivers are having issues as well, so Wilson is forcing a lot more than he has to.

Whenever a quarterback forces, be it Wilson, Brissett, or Tom Brady, you’re going to get intercepted. Usually.

So it’s not a surprise that Wilson is struggling, the Broncos are trash offensively. Their head coach isn’t helping matters either. Wilson also isn’t hitting his shots when he has them either. So it’s fair to say that the former Seahawk probably wouldn’t be doing as well in Cleveland as Brissett.

Now, Wilson is a better player, as his skill set is just more dynamic than Brissett’s. But Brissett’s limitations actually work in his favor with the Browns. He’s not a risk-taker, so he protects the ball better than Wilson. He doesn’t force things until he has no choice. He trusts in his offensive unit to do its job.

It’s not a great offense as a scheme, it requires a lot to go right in order to work, but for the people involved, it suits them best. That’s largely why Brissett is outplaying Wilson, he fits his scheme better than Wilson fits his.

For all of Brissett’s limitations, I feel he fits better in the Browns’ scheme, simply because he isn’t expected to be “that guy”. Wilson has to be and would be asked to be in Cleveland. He wouldn’t have as good of a receiver corp in Cleveland but could a better offensive line help him play better? Who knows.

You can’t assume an unknown, but I don’t think the Browns would be any better off currently. After all, for as dynamic as Wilson is, he doesn’t play defense.