The Cleveland Browns have had a lot of starting quarterbacks. On Sunday, Dillon Gabriel will make it 41 starters since the team's return in 1999. That's a lot of dudes. Like, a whole lot of dudes. Like, I don't think I even know 41 different dudes. If you were like hey man, can you name 41 dudes, I'd be like...probably not!
When you have that many quarterbacks, some sh...stuff has gone really, really wrong. But there are also degrees of how wrong things have gone.
Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling now, because I have a lot of words to write below, where I'm going to rank all 40 of the Browns quarterbacks since 1999. So take a deep breath and get ready to remember some guys.
40. Spergeon Wynn
Spergeon Wynn started one game for the Browns. He was 5-for-16 for 17 yards and was sacked five times. That's enough to earn him the title of the worst of the Browns quarterbacks.
39. Bruce Gradkowski
Bruce Gradkowski used to own a restaurant in Toledo. I drove past it maybe once a week in grad school. I never even felt tempted to stop. I think it burned down in 2022.
38. Dorian Thompson-Robinson
I wanted DTR to be good, but he threw 10 interceptions as a member of the Browns, with just one touchdown pass. It's safe to say he was not good.
37. Connor Shaw
Connor Shaw only threw one interception in his lone start for the Browns. He didn't throw a touchdown pass, but the mediocrity of that start was enough for him to land ahead of three players on this list.
36. Ken Dorsey
Ken Dorsey did a lot of good things during his football career. He was good in college. He was good when he transitioned to coaching. Unfortunately, he was bad when he had to play NFL quarterback, throwing zero touchdowns and seven interceptions for Cleveland in 2008. Maybe 36th is too high?
35. Kevin Hogan
Kevin Hogan was pretty good against the Jets in 2017, but he came in in relief in that game. In his only start for the team one week later, he was picked off three times.
34. P.J. Walker
P.J. Walker was good at spring football. He was much less good at fall football, completing under half of his passes for the Browns in 2023.
33. Austin Davis
I straight up don't remember this dude. His numbers weren't as bad as some other guys were, so putting him 33rd feels appropriate.
32. Luke McCown
Before he bounced around for a long time as a journeyman, Luke McCown started four games for the 2004 Browns and was so bad that he didn't throw another NFL pass until 2007.
31. Doug Pederson
Doug Pederson started eight games for the 2000 Browns, going 1-7 with two touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Lucky for him, he was a better coach than he was a player.
30. DeShone Kizer
I thought DeShone Kizer had a shot to be THE guy when the Browns drafted him in 2017. Instead, he led the NFL with 22 interceptions and the Browns went 0-15 with him as the starter.
29. Bailey Zappe
Bailey Zappe started one game for the Browns last year. He wasn't awful. I mean, he also wasn't nearly as good as he was when he was with the Patriots in 2022 and 2023, but you could imagine Cleveland winning a few games if he was asked to be the full-time starter.
28. Deshaun Watson
We have reached the dumbest part of this article. How does one evaluate Deshaun Watson?
He's probably the most talented guy on this list. He went 8-4 over his first 12 starts for the team, and his 19 touchdowns to 12 picks is much better than a number of guys ahead of him.
But context matters here. The Browns gave up a monster haul to make Watson — who was only available because of a sexual assault scandal — the face of the franchise. It was a complete failure. I can't rank him higher than this because so much more matters here than just his on-field play, which wasn't even that good.
27. Jeff Driskel
I think this is where the talent on this list gets a little more solid. I always liked Jeff Driskel as a journeyman backup, and he threw two touchdowns in his lone Browns start. He was also picked off twice.
26. Jake Delhomme
Jake Delhomme had a long NFL career with a number of good moments, but his four starts for the Browns in 2010 shouldn't count as one of those good moments. Sure, Cleveland went 2-2 with Delhomme at the helm, but he threw seven interceptions.
25. Thad Lewis
Is this too high for a player who lost his only start with the team? Maybe! But he completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 204 yards in the loss, which was...fine? Is fine enough to tank a guy 25th? I don't know. I don't know anything. I've been thinking about the Cleveland Browns too long. I'm having an existential crisis at the moment.
24. Brady Quinn
Unlike most of the players listed before him, Brady Quinn made a lot of starts in Cleveland. 12 of them! But like most of the list, he was bad in those starts, leading the Browns to a 3-9 record while completing just 52.1 percent of his passes.
23. Ty Detmer
Ty Detmer threw twice as many touchdowns as he did interceptions with the Browns! Unfortunately, that just meant he threw four touchdowns in his five appearances with the team, going 0-2 as a starter and completing 51.6 percent of his passes.
22. Brandon Weeden
Like Deshaun Watson, Brandon Weeden would probably be a bit higher if context were removed, but we can't ignore that the Browns spent a first-round pick on a 28-year-old quarterback. He was bad, but it wasn't, like, an embarrassing level of badness?
21. Robert Griffin III
RGIII couldn't recapture his Washington magic when he moved to Cleveland, going 1-4 as the starter and throwing just two touchdowns. He did rush for two scores, though! At least there was some excitement!
20. Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Taylor is probably our first "they should have kept him around" guy on this list. Yeah, he completed under 50 percent of his passes in four games with Cleveland, but he only threw two interceptions and he rushed for a touchdown.
19. Charlie Frye
Charlie Frye certainly had his moments in Cleveland. I think, in my head, I remembered his time more fondly than the numbers suggest I should have, but the Browns routinely did a lot worse than Frye over the past 20 years.
18. Case Keenum
Case Keenum was undefeated as the Browns starter. He only made two starts, but still! His numbers in those two games were good! It's a shame it took until his eighth NFL season for him to land in Cleveland, because the Browns could have used him before then.
17. Jeff Garcia
Jeff Garcia played for the Cleveland Browns in 2004. He was good in San Francisco before that. He'd make a Pro Bowl in Tampa Bay after that. His time with the Browns mostly elicits a bored "ehh."
16. Nick Mullens
Yeah, this is too high for Nick Mullens, who made just one start for the Browns and lost it, but he threw a touchdown and wasn't sacked. He was pressed into action because both guys ahead of him were out due to COVID protocols, so he did about as well as you could expect.
15. Cody Kessler
Cody Kessler's numbers aren't bad. As a rookie in 2016, he completed 65.6 percent of his pass attempts for 1,380 yards with six touchdowns and just two interceptions. Unfortunately for Kessler's NFL career, the Browns were 0-8 with him as a starter.
14. Johnny Manziel
Johnny Football was exciting, but he was also a big draft bust who set the Browns back. He gets points because he actually made Browns games fun to watch, but accuracy concerns, turnovers and off-field issues doomed his time with the team.
13. Colt McCoy
Colt McCoy's 2011 season was fine. Cleveland was only 4-9 in his 13 starts, but he threw 14 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and looked like he might be able to hang on as the starter, but then the team drafted Brandon Weeden. It should have just tried to do the McCoy thing for another year.
12. Trent Dilfer
Journeyman Trent Dilfer arrived in Cleveland in 2005 via trade and was expected to mentor Charlie Frye. He posted the highest completion percentage of his NFL career, but the team was 4-7 with him in the lineup.
11. Seneca Wallace
I loved playing as Seneca Wallace on Madden. While he was only 1-6 as the starter in Cleveland, his numbers were respectable. That's, uhh...about all I can think of to say here.
10. Jason Campbell
And we've reached the top 10, if you can call it that.
Jason Campbell threw more touchdowns than interceptions in his eight starts for the Browns in 2013. He was aggressively decent as far as quarterbacking skills go, which I guess is enough to rank 10th.
9. Jameis Winston
Jameis Winston started seven games for the Browns last year. The win-loss record was bad because, well...it's the Browns, but he threw 13 touchdown passes and completed 61.1 percent of his pass attempts. It was a fine season.
8. Tim Couch
FINALLY. We finally get to a guy who actually had an extended chance to lead the Browns. The No. 1 overall pick in 1999, Tim Couch started 59 games for the Browns between 1999 and 2003, throwing 64 touchdowns and rushing for two as well.
Of course, there's a reason Couch was out of the league after five seasons. He was 22-37 as the team's starter and threw 67 picks. He was sacked 166 times.
7. Kelly Holcomb
Kelly Holcomb deserved better. He started just 12 games for the Browns over four years, completing 63.7 percent of his passes with 26 touchdowns. It would have been great to see what a full 16-game season with Holcomb as the starter would have looked like.
6. Josh McCown
Josh McCown's time in Cleveland went a lot better than his brother's time. Not from, like, a win-loss perspective as the team was 1-10 in his 11 starts, but McCown threw 18 touchdown passes with the Browns and completed over 60 percent of his passes.
5. Brian Hoyer
I thought what Brian Hoyer did in 2014 was one of the most impressive things a Browns quarterback has ever done. He was 7-6 as a starter that season, throwing for over 3,000 yards. Sure, he tossed too many interceptions, but he also led the NFL in yards per pass completion.
4. Jacoby Brissett
Jacoby Brissett was a solid player in Cleveland back in 2022, throwing 12 touchdown passes to just six interceptions. I've long considered him to be an elite backup quarterback and while you can see, when he has to start for an extended time, why he's a backup and not a starter, he definitely has his moments.
3. Derek Anderson
Derek Anderson made the Pro Bowl in 2007 while leading Cleveland to a 10-5 record in his 15 starts. He threw 29 touchdown passes that season. It was one of the best single-year performances we've seen from a Browns quarterback.
Unfortunately, he regressed in 2008 and 2009, ending his tenure in Cleveland. But hey — one really good year is enough to land him at the No. 3 spot on this list.
2. Joe Flacco
The Browns needed someone to step up in 2023, so they signed Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 down the stretch before leading the Browns to a loss in the playoffs. But that loss shouldn't be on Flacco, who threw two interceptions but also completed 73.9 percent of his passes. The defense just couldn't keep up against the Texans in that one.
1. Baker Mayfield
There has objectively been one good quarterback in Cleveland since 1999. Baker Mayfield is arguably a top 10 quarterback right now.
The problem? Cleveland gave up on him to acquire Deshaun Watson.
Sure, the Browns were only 29-30 in Mayfield's 59 starts, but he did his best, throwing 92 touchdowns and completing 61.6 percent of his passes. Trading Mayfield to Carolina set the Browns back and led to this latest round of Cleveland quarterback roulette. Mayfield has shown since arriving in Tampa that he could have been the long-term answer if the Browns had just done a better job building a team around him.
Instead, that decision started the chain reaction that will make Dillon Gabriel into Quarterback 41 on Sunday.