Cleveland Browns: 4 best backup quarterbacks of all-time

Nick Mullens may take the reins from Case Keenum who was supposed to replace Baker Mayfield on Saturday, and while he’s a solid backup he doesn’t make the Cleveland Browns top-4 backup list all-time

The Cleveland Browns are not in great shape heading into the weekend. A myriad of players has hit the COVID-19 list including quarterback Baker Mayfield and wide receiver Jarvis Landry. Even head coach Kevin Stefanski was placed on the list, which is not the first time for him.

With all that being said, Cleveland was set to turn to Case Keenum under center. Keenum, who has plenty of experience in Stefanski’s system, has started one game this season, back in Week 7 when he led the Browns to a win over the Denver Broncos.

Now, it appears Keenum will also be out as he too came down with Covid. That means Nick Mullens could be the guy and while he has never played for Cleveland he does have plenty of experience.

With all this talk of backups, it brings up the question of which former Cleveland reserves make the list for the top-four backups in franchise history. Ler’s dive right in.

Best Cleveland Browns backup No. 4: Kelly Holcomb

This one seems like an easy choice. Kelly Holcomb was undrafted out of Middle Tennessee State back in 1995 and joined Cleveland in 2001. He remained there until 2004 and played in 12 games. While he was just 4-8 overall as a starter, he had some great moments including the 429-yard passing performance in the team’s only other playoff appearance outside of 2020.

Holcomb and the Browns didn’t get the win that day but he did everything he could to make it a close game. For that reason, he will always be remembered as one of the best backups the orange and brown has ever had.