Browns QB Carousel Analysis

2010
Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Mangini
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Third
Opening Day QB Starter: Jake Delhomme
Season-Finale QB Starter: Colt McCoy
Other QBs who started: Seneca Wallace
Other QBs who played: Cribbs (Wildcat)
Leading Passer: McCoy
Noted: Holmgren and new GM Tom Heckert brought in veterans Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace and drafted Colt McCoy out of Texas in the third-round as the “project quarterback.” However, with Delhomme and Wallace knocked out with high ankle sprains after the first five games and a 1-4 start, McCoy was thrust into the fire against the Steelers. McCoy lost, but rebounded with wins over defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans and New England to improve the Browns to 3-5, before losing two close games to the Jets and the Jaguars. McCoy was injured during the Jaguars game, and Delhomme returned to face his former Carolina team. Delhomme guided the Browns to a 24-23 win over the Panthers and a 13-10 win at Miami to put the Browns at 5-7. Delhomme started just one more game, a 13-6 loss to the Bills, before McCoy took back over with three consecutive losses to Cincinnati, Baltimore and Pittsburgh to end the season. Mangini was fired the day after the Steelers’ loss, and Delhomme was let go.

2011
Record: 4-12
Head Coach: Pat Shurmur
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Fourth
Opening Day QB Starter: McCoy
Season-Finale QB Starter: Wallace
Other QBs who started: None
Other QBs who played: N/A
Leading Passer: McCoy
Noted: McCoy, given the reins from the get-go, struggled in his first true starting season. Without the benefit of a true offseason due to the NFL lockout, and getting a new West Coast offense from Shurmur, McCoy and the offense struggled to pick it up. It was their lowest total point output since the expansion 1999 season. McCoy started the first 13 games, throwing for 2,733 yards with 14 TDs and 11 Ints, before getting knocked out of a Thursday Night Steelers game with a concussion. Wallace started the final three games and didn’t fare much better, only throwing for two touchdowns. The Browns actually started 2-1 and 3-3 following a 6-3 win over Seattle before going 1-9 to end the season.

2012
Record: 5-11
Head Coach: Shurmur
Postseason: No
Division Finish: Fourth
Opening Day QB Starter: Brandon Weeden
Season-Finale QB Starter: Thad Lewis
Other QBs who started: None
Other QBs who played: McCoy, Josh Johnson
Leading Passer: Weeden
Noted: Weeden was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, prior to the season. He was the Browns’ third first-round QB selection of the Expansion Era, joining Couch and Quinn. The 28-year-old Weeden was the sixth-straight different QB to start a Browns season opener, the eighth-different QB in the last 10 years, and the first true rookie to start a season opener since Cliff Lewis started the very first game in Cleveland Browns history back in 1946. Weeden actually made it through 15 games (all starts) before he was injured during a 34-12 loss at Denver. However, he struggled during his rookie year, throwing for 3,385 yards with 14 TDs and 17 Ints. The yardage total was the highest for a Browns quarterback during the Expansion Era, but the Browns only went 5-10 in games he started. The Browns did rally from a 2-8 start with three straight victories, including a 20-14 win at home over the hated Steelers (putting Weeden in rare company). But the team slumped with three straight losses, including a 24-10 loss in Pittsburgh in which third-string quarterback Thad Lewis had to start due to an injury suffered by McCoy in relief of Weeden against Denver. As luck would have it, Lewis was injured during the fourth quarter and Josh Johnson – signed off the street as an emergency – was pressed into duty. Shurmur and GM Heckert were fired by new owner Jimmy Haslam III the day after the season. McCoy would be traded and Lewis would be released.

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