Reviewing the Backup Quarterbacks: Who Should The Browns Trust?

Last season, the Cleveland Browns had an extreme number of injuries to those who entered the revolving door of the Quarterback position. The unfortunate injury to starting QB Deshaun Watson during the second stint against the Baltimore Ravens left the fans struggling to find confidence in the offense. After attempting to maintain a competitive offense with Dorian Thompson-Robinson & P.J Walker, it was clear a change needed to be made if they wanted to make the NFL Playoffs. The offense was also missing star Runningback Nick Chubb that left a significant hole in the offense even when Watson was able to find the field. Browns General Manager Andrew Berry managed to find a diamond in the rough with Joe Flacco so late in the Free Agency market, which luckily saved the season for Cleveland, but is not a plan they would like to repeat moving forward.

This year, Cleveland’s GM had a primary focus of adding depth and experience to the quarterback room to be very well prepared as they approach the start of the 2024 NFL season. While the remainder of the offense looks to be a very strong supporting cast, let's take a look at who Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski chose to be the backup quarterbacks for the 2024 season:

Jameis Winston:

The veteran Winston joined the Cleveland Browns this offseason after spending the last 4 seasons as the primary backup for the New Orleans Saints. Many fans are familiar with the popular quarterback due to his fun and outgoing personality on social media as well as his success at the collegiate level for the Florida State Seminoles. During his 2013 campaign, he accomplished the feat of winning the Heisman trophy and one of the last ever BCS National Championship games. The former NCAA Heisman Winner and national champion managed to be a security blanket for the Saints at some critical moments. Following the retirement of Drew Brees in 2021, Winston stepped up as the Saints starter and collected an impressive 14 TDs and 1,170 yards with only 3 INTs. His role immediately decreased following the signing of now starting QB Derek Carr, but there is no question who the Saints would've trusted under center if Carr was unavailable.

Signing with the Browns now may give him that chance to see the field again. The franchise is currently in a lengthy and expensive contract with the starting signal caller Watson. Luckily, the starter has appeared to be very healthy in pre-season activities to start the summer and has shown all signs of positive improvement. Winston provides the security of maintaining an efficient offense with a backup quarterback if Watson was to be unprepared due to injury or even worse, become injured again. Many around the NFL still believe that Jameis has what it takes to be a starting quarterback in this league. As the former #1 overall pick, there is still a high amount of talent and potential behind his very popular name.

The Cleveland Browns now sign Jameis with the hope for him to be not only a solidified backup quarterback, but a joyous welcome to the locker room. The new Cleveland QB has always been known to have a very energetic, positive, and outgoing personality. One that has shown a more positive attitude in the locker room in his recent NFL and NCAA experiences. While this feature may be overlooked, a positive attitude can help bring confidence to a team on all levels of the playing field.

Tyler Huntley:

This former Pro Bowler and Baltimore Raven did not wander too far from the flock and decided to stay in the AFC North with our Cleveland Browns. Tyler Huntley was signed to a 1 year deal by the Browns with a very similar goal with the signing of Winston, to add experience and depth to the quarterback position. Huntley is a versatile dual threat QB who showed many flashes of talent in his 4 years as a Raven. Due to Lamar Jackson's injury history, he was able to find himself in some critical games for Baltimore that rewarded him with some very important experience in his career. While Huntley's stats are not the most impressive, he has still managed to find himself in the Pro Bowl in 2022. His time with the Ravens proved that he was a solid backup quarterback in a Dual Threat system and could fill the shoes of a starter when the time comes. When Huntley signed with the Browns, it was clear that Andrew Berry wanted a room of dual-threat QBs.

Huntley will most likely come into training camp as the 3rd or 4th QB on the depth chart behind Watson and Winston. This will give him almost every opportunity to perform well in pre-season and possibly earn a roster spot.T he former Raven could also help the defense prepare for Baltimore by practicing against a quarterback with the same skills as Lamar Jackson. The 5th year QB who is only 26 years old has faced playoff level competition in his time in his NFL career so far and performed at a competitive level. The franchise and fans will be watching Huntley with very high expectations to perform well throughout the pre-season. We will most likely see a mix of Huntley, DTR, & possibly another QB take most of the preseason snaps for the Browns.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson:

After a very promising preseason, the Browns seemed prepared to trust DTR as one of the primary backups in the year of 2023. DTR outperformed expectations in almost all of his pre-season games and ultimately led to the trading away of Josh Dobbs to the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, most of this success did not transfer over when it came time in the regular season. Thompson-Robinson was forced to unexpectedly start the game against the Baltimore Ravens in Cleveland, being notified just hours beforehand due to a game-time decision on Deshaun Watson's shoulder injury. This led to a complete dysfunction on the offense as a whole and did not allow for almost any game plan put in place by Stefanski to work. After this start, it was hard for DTR to ever find the same type of groove that he had during the summer. He unfortunately became injured and had to end the rest of the 2023 season on the Injury Reserved list. 

The second-year quarterback out of UCLA will now have to battle to make this roster and will most likely need a preseason similar to his rookie year. It's hard to officially project the roster before training camp has begun, but DTR has by far the least experience out of the 4 competing quarterbacks. The general manager has not done his former 5th round pick any favors by adding very impressive backup quarterback talent, but the team cannot afford to be put in another situation similar to last season. 

With that being said, Berry does not like to give up on his draft picks very quickly. Thompson-Robinson will get every chance to prove his worth starting at training camp in Berea, OH.