All 38 Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterbacks Since 1999, Ranked Worst to Best

29. 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.

28. Austin Davis

Austin Davis showed enough as a rookie with the Rams in 2014 that the Browns brought him on board to compete for the QB job in 2015. It was already a pretty big red flag that he didn’t see the field until injuries gave him the opportunity in Week 12 though.

And once he was starting, things were pretty rough.

Davis ended up getting two starts down the stretch (Week 13 and Week 17), and we lost those games 37-7 and 28-12. 

The coaching staff really let Davis air it out (attempting 84 passes), but completed just 48% for 470 yards with no touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

The big bright spot was for fantasy football managers relying on Gary Barnidge, since Barnidge had 5 receptions for 59 yards in one game and 8 receptions for 66 yards in the other. Pretty good if you’re in a point-per-reception league.

27. Jake Delhomme

Jake Delhomme wasn't exactly considered a top-tier starting quarterback when he led the Carolina Panthers to a Super Bowl appearance, but things went way downhill once he left Carolina.

A 35-year-old Delhomme was our Week 1 starter in 2010 before getting hurt, going 20/37 for 227 yards with 1 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in that debut, then things got much worse when he returned. 

He returned to the starting lineup from Week 12 through Week 14, and while we did win two of those three games, Delhomme contributed just 1 touchdown to 3 interceptions in that stretch.