Quiet please!, Flip a coin, What about now? , What should be done? , Avoid ‘dumb stuff’, Starting over

Odd are rookies Shedeur Sanderes and Dillon Gabriel will play at some point in 2025. The Browns have started nine different QBs over the last two seasons.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Who’s going to start at quarterback?

People ask me that nearly every day. No matter what the Browns say about having an “open competition,” they must have a plan in mind.

The Browns have been down this road before.

Quiet please!

I recall Eric Mangini trying to create a “fair” competition between Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn in 2009. Mangini had the QBs practice throws charted. He worked to evenly divide practice snaps. He did much of the same in preseason games.

Former Browns Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey couldn't resist calling pass plays.

In the end, he opened with Quinn as the QB. The decision wasn’t announced until the morning of the opening day game, although Quinn was preparing that week to start.

Four games into the season, Mangini switched to Anderson. Later in the season, Quinn was starting again.

In retrospect, not much was accomplished by the “fair” competition. The Browns were 1-11 at one point in 2009. They came alive, winning the final four games. Quinn was the QB. He was put in charge of a no-huddle offense, and they ran the ball – a lot.

In the final three games (all victories) of that 2009 season, Jerome Harrison rushed for 561 yards and five TDs. It was old-fashioned football.

In 2010, the Browns were still looking for a QB. They alternated between Jake Delhomme (opening-game starter), Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy. Just like 2009, these Browns had a 5-11 record in 2010 … and no answer at quarterback.

The Browns should pick an opening day starter between Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.

Flip a coin

In 2007, coach Romeo Crennel had three QBs in camp: Charlie Frye, Anderson and Quinn.

Because he sat out the first 11 days of training camp, Quinn wasn’t a part of the early competition to start. The battle was between Frye and Anderson.

While Crennel wasn’t as exact as Mangini in terms of trying to keep practice snaps evenly divided, Crennel came up with a unique way to pick a starter for the first preseason game.

Picking a QB was agonizing for former Browns coach Eric Mangini.

He flipped a coin, with Frye and Anderson as the candidates. Frye won the coin toss and started the first preseason game. Anderson started the second game. Frye started the third.

Romeo Crennel flipped a coin to decide who starts a preaseason game at QB.

Unlike Mangini who tried to keep his 2009 opening day choice for QB quiet until game time, Crennel announced Frye as the regular-season starter six days before the 2007 opener vs. Pittsburgh.

Near the end of the first half, Frye was benched. Anderson played the rest of what was a 34-7 loss.

Two days later, Frye was traded to Seattle for a sixth-round pick. Anderson started the rest of the season with Quinn as the backup. They finished 10-6.

But long term, the Browns still had no idea who was their QB.

What about now?

Coach Kevin Stefanski was hired in 2020. His main goal was to turn Baker Mayfield into a successful starting NFL quarterback. Mayfield was the established starter in 2020 and 2021.

In 2022, the Browns made the Deshaun Watson deal. He was suspended for the first 11 games. The Browns signed veteran Jacoby Brissett to start as Watson sat out.

The last two seasons, Watson was the opening-day starter. That didn’t last, because he was injured in both seasons.

This is the first time we’ve watched Stefanski pick a starter from a wide-open field of candidates. There is no agenda such as making the Watson trade look good and fixing the troubled quarterback.

Stefanski has four QBs, not counting Watson, who is recovering from his second Achilles surgery.

Stefanski’s public stance is that there are no favorites between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

OK, he can say that.

But Stefanski can’t chop up the QB pie into four equal slices. He has to know that, regardless of what he says in press conferences.

What should be done?

The Browns don’t need to announce it, but they must prepare Flacco and/or Pickett to open the season Sept. 7 vs. Cincinnati.

I don’t care if Dillon Gabriel looks like the second coming of Brian Sipe in preseason games. Or if Shedeur Sanders is the next Jared Goff, as one draft preview suggested.

The Browns’ first six games are against teams that had a combined 71-41 record last season. That includes all three AFC North opponents.

Let’s repeat that: The Browns’ first six games are against teams that had a combined 71-41 record last season.

Send a third-round pick (Gabriel) or a fifth-round pick (Sanders) into that NFL meatgrinder and ruin another rookie QB — is that a viable plan?

No matter what Stefanski says publicly, the coach has to know that’s a terrible idea.

The Browns were a 3-14 team last season. Inspired by the hiring of Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator, the Browns led the NFL in pass attempts.

Let’s repeat that: The Browns led the NFL in pass attempts. They kept throwing the ball and throwing the ball even when interception-prone Jameis Winston started seven games. He had 12 interceptions with the Browns.

Avoid ‘dumb stuff’

Rarely do I use the word “dumb,” but there are moments when it seems the Browns are stuck on stupid. Calling pass play after pass play after pass play last season was one of those occasions.

Stefanski called the plays early in the season. When Winston took over for the injured Watson, Stefanski handed off the play-calling to the pass-happy Dorsey. I sat at some of those passing-obsessed games wondering, “What are they doing?”

I had the same thought watching Mangini agonizing over “fairness” and trying to pick a QB in 2009. Or seeing Crennel flipping coins.

What did any of that accomplish? It seemed like a great way not to prepare anyone to open the season at QB.

Those were dumb ideas, and I believe Stefanski is smart enough to avoid those traps.

Starting over

For Stefanski, this is a fresh start. I like him as a play-caller. I like his play-action offense. I watched it work with Baker Mayfield (when healthy), with Brissett and Flacco.

The Browns believe Pickett is well-suited for it. Great, start him to open the season.

We know Flacco thrived in the Browns offense in 2023.

Flacco won NFL Comeback Player of the Year when he threw 13 TD passes in five starts for the Browns. Interceptions are a part of Flacco’s game. He was picked off eight times in those contests. He also threw back-to-back pick-6’s in the playoff loss to Houston.

We also know Flacco started fast with the Colts last season, with 7 TDs in his first three games with only one interception. But in his last four games, there were six interceptions and he lost three fumbles.

Flacco can be hot and cold.

Pickett is more conservative. He threw as many TDs (13) in 24 starts for Pittsburgh as Flacco did in five Cleveland starts. But the Steelers were 14-10 when he started games.

I hear the Browns are worried about an outbreak of interceptions if Flacco starts. If he struggles, go to Pickett.

But the Browns need to stay away from the temptation to start a rookie early this season.

The Browns play an average of three quarterbacks most seasons. Last year, it was four. In 2023, it was five. Sanders and/or Gabriel will see action. At least, that’s what history tells us. Be patient.

The desire to prepare all the QBs to open the season as the starter can lead to a situation where no one is ready.

Stefanski has to know that. The offense is back in his hands. So is the QB decision. It’s time to be smart. Pick a veteran and prepare him for the Bengals.