17. Cody Kessler
Cody Kessler leading the Browns to an 0-8 record helped us secure the 2017 first overall pick that brought Myles Garrett to Cleveland. So fans should already love him for that.
But it's not really fair to reduce Kessler to just his record, because that Browns team was bad all around, and Kessler actually held up pretty well. He obviously wasn't a guy that would single-handedly win any games, but he also didn't blow up in the spectacular fashion that some of our starters have.
Kessler was constantly under pressure, getting sacked 19 times in his 8 starts, but he still managed to complete 65.6% of his passes for 1,369 yards with 6 touchdowns and just 2 interceptions. That ability to avoid turnovers is important, but didn't make up for the fact that he had next to zero big-play ability.
16. Case Keenum
Continuing to work our way through the "I guess he was fine" tier, Case Keenum actually won both of his starts with the Browns.
His first one, a 17-14 win over the Broncos, saw him go 21-of-33 for 199 yards with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions. His second, a Week 17 win over the Bengals, had him do even better with 176 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick on 17-of-24 passing.
The 2021 season was a forgettable one in Cleveland (aside from being Baker Mayfield's last one with the Browns), and Keenum is absolutely part of how forgettable it was.
15. Jeff Garcia
When the Browns landed a two-time Pro Bowl QB, expectations were pretty high. Everybody was ready to move on from the Tim Couch era, and Garcia was going to let us do just that.
But Garcia wasn’t nearly enough.
His 1,726 yards with 10 touchdowns (plus 2 rushing touchdowns) and 9 interceptions brought the Browns to a 3-7 record.
This season included an incredibly low nadir (passer rating of 0 against the Cowboys in his second start) and a very fun peak (a 99-yard touchdown pass to Andre Davis), but overall it was not good.