All 34 Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterbacks Since 1999, Ranked Worst to Best
The good, the bad and the ugly all show up on the rankings of all 34 quarterbacks to have started a game for the Cleveland Browns since the franchise returned for the 1999 season.
29. Kevin Hogan
Kevin Hogan got his lone start during the 2017 season after making a couple appearances as a fifth-round rookie in 2016, and it was another one of those “not quite so bad that it’s funny, but certainly pretty bad” games.
He actually threw a touchdown (but all credit goes to Seth DeValve for the tough catch on the fade. Remember Seth DeValve?) but that doesn’t erase the 20-of-37 passing, 140 yards or 3 interceptions he put up.
This was also the first time Deshaun Watson ever played against the Browns. He got to see first-hand how much we needed him.
28. DeShone Kizer
I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about DeShone Kizer. An exciting young second-round quarterback stepping into an offense with who I thought would be a future star wide receiver in Corey Coleman? And we had Duke Johnson and David Njoku, plus Josh Gordon even played a few games?
Well in retrospect, Kizer's support cast was awful, but that doesn't excuse how he played.
Kizer threw an NFL-leading 22 interceptions to go with just 11 touchdowns, leading the Browns to an 0-15 record in his 15 starts. He missed one game (the Kevin Hogan start), and the Browns finished the year going 0-16.
It's pretty telling that even as a former second-round pick, Kizer wasn't able to stick on any NFL rosters as a long-term backup. The best thing to be said for that season is it got us the No. 1 overall pick.
27. Doug Pederson
The same football mind that has made Doug Pederson a great head coach also made him a valuable backup throughout his 10-year NFL career. That football IQ wasn't enough to shine through when he did get a chance to prove himself on the field though.
The Browns went 1-7 through Pederson’s eight starts in the 2000 season, and while I don’t like to put win-loss records entirely on QBs, he definitely played a big role in that record.
Peterson completed 55.7% of his passes (actually slightly above his career-average of 54.8%), but he averaged just 95.2 yards per game, throwing 2 touchdowns and 8 interceptions.
Posting those numbers now may well have put him closer to the bottom of this list, but we do have to account for the fact that it was a different game back then. Eight qualifying passers had interception rates over 4.0% in 2000, for example, compared to zero in the 2022 season.