5 options at QB if Cleveland Browns lose Baker Mayfield to injury in 2020

Will Case Keenum be enough for the Cleveland Browns as a backup plan?

The Cleveland Browns are a team that seems very fortunate on paper. They have their starting quarterback in Baker Mayfield and he has a lot of talent around him.

Sure, he and the offense struggled throughout much of last season but there was a lot of blame to hand out there. Most of which fell on the coaching staff for their game plans and the failure of general manager John Dorsey to give Mayfield adequate protection on the offensive line.

Cleveland has hoped to address that this season as they picked up Jack Conklin in free agency and Jedrick Wills in the 2020 NFL Draft to address the line and changed out not only head coach Freddie Kitchens, but also Dorsey as well.

In their places now will be a rookie head coach in Kevin Stefanski and a first-time general manager in Andrew Berry. In addition to correcting their flaws on the line, Berry and Stefanski worked methodically to add depth to their roster — including at the quarterback position.

5. Go with Case Keenum

The most likely scenario is that Cleveland would roll with Case Keenum. He comes over after spending 2019 with the Washington Redskins and 2018 with the Denver Broncos. However, he was the Minnesota Vikings starter for 14 games in 2017 and led them to the NFC Championship Game.

That year, he worked closely with Kevin Stefanski and knows the new Browns coach’s system very well. For that reason, Cleveland gave him a healthy contract to backup Mayfield.

But what if Keenum can’t get it done? While he knows the system, he was 1-7 last season as a starter for Washington and 6-10 the year prior in Denver. In fact, take out his 11-3 run in 2017 and he would be just 16-32 as a starting quarterback.

For that reason, we look at a few other options outside of Keenum should the Browns have to replace Mayfield this season.