The Cleveland Browns have made it a habit to experiment at the quarterback position during their meaningless Week 17 games. Which season finale starting quarterbacks have been most impressive?
It is no secret that the Cleveland Browns have plowed through a slew of quarterbacks since re-entering the league in 1999. All of the different starting quarterbacks seem to blend together in the minds of fans. Many are forgotten altogether.
The large number of starters has become a national punchline, leading to each new iteration of the front office in Cleveland attempting to make a splash at the position. Yet every draft pick and signing made since 1999 seems to end in either injury or a major failure to meet expectations.
Even getting a player through all 16 games has proved nearly impossible, except for one season, meaning Browns fans are used to seeing several players under center every season.
Due to various factors, especially injuries, the Browns always have a way of finding creative starters to strap up for Week 17. The following list ranks the top five Week 17 starting quarterbacks since the organization’s return to action in 1999.
5. Seneca Wallace
Seneca Wallace was the 16th starting quarterback for the Browns since 1999. Out of Sacramento, California, Wallace is often among the forgotten starting quarterbacks since 1999. Of course, there is good reason for this, but at the same time, the career backup should be recognized for stepping in to one of the most difficult situations a quarterback could step into.
Wallace started seven games for the Browns spanning the 2010 and 2011 seasons, finishing with a 1-6 record. He also, however, stepped in to relieve an injured quarterback seven additional times in his brief tenure in Cleveland.
In total, Wallace threw six touchdown passes and four interceptions, and ended up with over 1,000 passing yards in just over 200 attempts. Of course, starting and sitting periodically and filling in without adequate preparation may skew the stats and prevent Wallace from revealing his true potential.
As for his Week 17 start, it came in the 2011 finale. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned, as Wallace completed under half of his pass attempts, failed to throw for 200 yards or a touchdown, and threw an interception in the 13-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Still, this performance was not exactly indicative of the somewhat productive career Wallace was able to have under the most difficult of circumstances as a Brown.
4. Jason Campbell
The career of Jason Campbell was a busy one, as the journeyman spent time quarterbacking in five different cities. Most notably with the Redskins, Campbell’s next destinations were Oakland and Chicago. In 2013, the 32-year-old veteran found his way to Cleveland, where he started eight games in relief of the injured Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer, coming away with just one victory.
Campbell is one of the more forgotten of the team’s starting quarterbacks since re-entering the league in 1999, but he was also one of the more successful statistically.
In just nine total games, Campbell totaled 2,015 yards and threw for 11 touchdowns as opposed to eight interceptions. While he didn’t even play a full season, his tenure is a more accurate reflection of him as a player since these starts were consecutive.
In the Week 17 matchup against the Steelers, Campbell completed 23 of 41 pass attempts totaling 240 yards. The Browns lost the game 20-7, but it really wasn’t a result of poor quarterbacking for a change.
Despite the fact that Campbell did not return to action in Cleveland after 2013, he still earns a spot on this list for making the most of a virtually impossible situation.
3. Connor Shaw
Connor Shaw only started and only played in one game, 2014’s season finale against the Baltimore Ravens. He isn’t even a member of the team anymore. In fact, Shaw was just waived by his new team, the Chicago Bears last month.
His only career action in the regular season for any team is the one start he made with the Browns. Other than that, Shaw has primarily been a third string quarterback competing to stay on the roster in training camp.
So what makes the former South Carolina Gamecock so memorable to Browns fans?
Maybe it was the tweet simply reading “22”, joking with fans and informing him that he was well aware of the 21 quarterbacks since 1999 who went before him. Or maybe it was the attitude he brought to Baltimore on December 28, 2014, a breath of fresh air in the midst of the clown show fans had grown accustomed to with Johnny Manziel, Josh Gordon, and Justin Gilbert.
Statistically, it did not go well. And the Browns lost, allowing the Ravens into the playoffs on the final week of the season. But something about Shaw will live on in the minds of Browns fans for a long time.
2. Colt McCoy
A highly touted third-round draft pick out of Texas, Colt McCoy came to Cleveland with high expectations after an amazingly successful collegiate career. McCoy was quickly thrust into a starting role, the organization’s 14th starting quarterback since 1999, and was a victim of a poor offensive line and a team with no offensive weapons.
McCoy’s only Week 17 start came at the end of the 2010 season. Against the Steelers, the team he opposed in his first career start, the Texan completed 20 of 41 passes totaling 209 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately however, McCoy also threw three interceptions.
Over his entire career in Cleveland, McCoy won six games and threw 21 touchdown passes. He too was slowed by injuries and ended up spending a season in San Francisco as a backup with the 49ers in 2013 before ending up with the Washington Redskins, where he remains.
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The reason McCoy ranks so high on this list despite his struggles on the field is his leadership qualities and consistency. No matter who fans wish to blame, the bottom line is that McCoy never had a chance. He was destined to fail in Cleveland due to a lack of size and a severe lack of any team whatsoever around him.
Regardless, McCoy ought to be commended for his valiant efforts in a Browns uniform, and most of all… making it to Week 17.
1. Tim Couch
Even though his career didn’t unfold exactly as anticipated, Tim Couch is still undoubtedly considered one of the best Browns quarterbacks since 1999. Totaling 59 starts over five seasons, Couch is the longest tenured Brown quarterback in the new era.
In total, the former Kentucky Wildcat holds Cleveland records since 1999 with 11,131 passing yards, 1,025 completions, 64 touchdowns, and completion percentage, at 59.8 percent. Most importantly, Couch won 22 games despite being brutally abused throughout his career.
The Browns struggled during his tenure, yet Couch made the most of the opportunity he was given when selected in 1999.
Obviously, Couch has been forgotten by many around the league due to Cleveland’s lack of success and his short career. Still, Browns fans will remember Couch for being the one who held down the fort at the quarterback position for a substantial amount of time while the team was still getting used to being an NFL franchise again.
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Couch never panned out long-term in a Browns uniform, but he did make it to Week 17. Due to his ability to make something out of not much all the way up to his release in 2004, Couch tops the rankings of Browns Week 17 starting quarterbacks since 1999.