Browns QB Carousel Analysis

2007
Record: 10-6
Head Coach: Crennel
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Second
Opening Day QB Starter: Frye
Season-Finale QB Starter: Anderson
Other QBs who started: None
Other QBs who played: Brady Quinn
Leading Passer: Anderson
Noted: Frye barely beat out Anderson to start the season opener, but most everyone believed that first-round rookie Brady Quinn would eventually take over. After just a quarter-and-a-half of the season opener, Crennel pulled the plug on the Frye Era forever, inserting Anderson and then trading him the following day to Seattle. Anderson responded by putting together one of the best single-seasons a Browns quarterback has ever had, throwing for 3,787 yards with 29 TDs and 19 Ints. Anderson burst on the scene in his first start, throwing for five TDs in a wild 51-45 shootout win over Cincinnati, and kept it going for most of the first half. The Browns were 3-3 heading into their bye week following a 41-31 win over Miami, but came out with six wins over the next eight weeks to put them at 9-5 and right on the cusp of a playoff berth. However, Anderson threw four interceptions in a 19-14 loss at Cincinnati, which essentially killed their chances at a playoff berth. For his efforts, Anderson made the Pro Bowl, one of five members of the offense to do so. Quinn made his debut in the season finale, leading one drive just before halftime that resulted in a field goal.

2008
Record: 4-12
Head Coach: Crennel
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Fourth
Opening Day QB Starter: Anderson
Season-Finale QB Starter: Bruce Gradkowski
Other QBs who started: Quinn, Dorsey
Other QBs who played: N/A
Leading Passer: Anderson
Noted: Anderson quickly proved that his 2007 season was an aberration, starting just nine games (playing 10) and throwing for 1,615 yards with nine TDs and eight Ints. Following a loss to Baltimore, which dropped the Browns to 3-5, Crennel benched Anderson for Quinn in a Thursday night home showdown against Denver. Quinn played well in a 34-30 loss, throwing for 239 yards and two touchdowns, and won his first game as a starter the following week, a 29-27 come-from-behind Monday night win at Buffalo. However, that would be the last game the Browns, and Crennel, would win. Quinn was injured the following week, and Anderson was also injured a week later, leaving Dorsey as the only QB remaining. Dorsey went 0-3 as a starter, tossing 7 Ints to zero TDs, before he was injured in the second-to-last game. That meant Gradkowski, who was signed off the street just three weeks prior, started the season finale against the Steelers. It did not go well, and Crennel was fired the following day.

2009
Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Eric Mangini
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Fourth
Opening Day QB Starter: Quinn
Season-Finale QB Starter: Anderson
Other QBs who started: None
Other QBs who played: Josh Cribbs (Wildcat)
Leading Passer: Quinn
Noted: Mangini let the Quinn/Anderson QB controversy fester into the start of the season. Quinn got the nod, but it wasn’t announced until just hours before kickoff of the season opener. In his only season as a true Browns starter, Quinn threw for 1,339 yards with eight TDs and 7 Ints. in nine starts (10 games). Quinn was yanked midway through a Week 3 blowout loss to Baltimore for Anderson, and Anderson started the next five games, winning only one. The win he had, Anderson only completed two passes, but it was enough for the Browns to beat Buffalo, 6-3. Quinn got the job back with the team at 1-7 for a Monday Night game with the Ravens (a 16-0 loss), before playing the best game of his life against Detroit (304 yards, 4 TDs, 0 Ints.) in a wild 38-37 loss that came down to the final play. Quinn started the next four games, picking up a home upset win over the Steelers, 13-6, and a 40-34 win at Kansas City. Quinn, however, was injured near the end of the game, and Anderson started the final two games, both victories, to give the Browns a four-game winning streak to end the season. The win streak saved Mangini’s job. However, it did not save Quinn’s or Anderson’s, as both were sent packing by new team president Mike Holmgren.

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