Cleveland Browns: Is Colin Kaepernick a better backup option than Jacoby Brissett?

With news of the Las Vegas Raiders working out Colin Kaepernick, we pose the question: would he be a better option at QB2 than Jacoby Brissett?

The Cleveland Browns have a true star and difference maker at the starting quarterback position, something they have been looking to get for a long time.

They thought they had it in Baker Mayfield, just like they thought they had it in several other quarterbacks over the last 23 years, but with the acquisition of Deshaun Watson this off-season, Cleveland finally has their franchise difference maker under center.

While questions about whether the team needs to improve at the QB1 spot are now gone for the foreseeable future, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other questions still in that quarterback room.

Outside of the obvious question everyone asks, where Mayfield ends up playing this season, the questions about the backup options remain. Is having Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs as your two backup quarterbacks enough?

This isn’t the first year that this has been asked about the backups for Cleveland. When Mayfield when down with injury in previous years, especially in 2021, the questions came up regarding Case Keenum and whether he was actually suitable at providing enough to help the team win. Insert new names into the equation, and you still have the same question.

With news of Colin Kaepernick having a tryout with the Las Vegas Raiders for their backup quarterback position, it made us wonder: would Kaepernick be a better backup option than Brissett?

Would Colin Kaepernick be an upgrade at QB2?

Taking a look at career stats for both players, it leans pretty heavily in favor of Kaepernick over Brissett. Kaepernick has thrown for over 12,000 yards in his NFL career, while accumulating 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Brissett has thrown for just under 8,000 yards, with a 36 touchdown to 17 interception ratio.

Looking at the last season Kaepernick played in 2016, he still had a really good statistical season, throwing for 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions. While the 49ers struggled as a team that season, much of it was due to forces outside of his own control.

A “stat” that everyone loves to look at is quarterback wins. In reality, this stat doesn’t exist, but if we look at wins by the two quarterbacks in their career starts, Kaepernick has a record of 28-30, and Brissett has a record of 14-23. Even imaginary statistics put the edge in Kaepernick’s favor.

Jacoby Brissett is a fine NFL quarterback, and when called upon in sparse relief duty, can help you to not lose a game. The upside of having Kaepernick as your backup, however, is much higher, especially given his proven experience in the league and the playoffs.

Having that leadership in your backup quarterback can only be a good thing.