Every Browns starting QB ever: Full list
The Cleveland Browns are no strangers to having a slew of different quarterbacks. We all know the infamous jersey that someone has continued to add to every time the team has to start a new quarterback and it's continued to grow throughout the years.
Not every Browns quarterback has been a slouch though. They were initially led by Otto Graham in the 1940s and 1950s and he started over 100 games for them. Graham is one of only three quarterbacks to have started over 100 games for the Browns with the other two being Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar.
For the most part, the names on this list are guys who got thrown into action due to injuries or inconsistencies to the starter. You'll also see plenty of draft busts including Brady Quinn, DeShone Kizer, and Johnny Manziel.
With all of that said, let's get into the full list of every Browns starting quarterback. Buckle up.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1940 to 1949
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Otto Graham (1946-1955) | 45 (114) | 5 (12) |
Cliff Lewis (1946-1951) | 8 (23*) | 0 |
The Browns only had two quarterbacks start games for them in the 1940s with Otto Graham getting the majority of those starts. Graham started 45 games and made five playoff starts for Cleveland during the 1940s while Cliff Lewis started eight games at quarterback. The asterik next to the 23 total career starts is there because while Lewis started 23 games in Cleveland, only eight of them were at quarterback.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1950 to 1959
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns |
|---|---|---|
Otto Graham (1946-1955) | 71 (114) | 7 (12) |
George Ratterman (1952-1956) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Tommy O'Connell (1956-1957) | 14 (14) | 1 (1) |
Babe Parilli (1956) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Milt Plum (1957-1961) | 26 (51) | 1 (1) |
Jim Ninowski (1958-1959, 1962-1966) | 1 (11) | 0 |
Six different quarterbacks took snaps for the Browns in the 1950s with Otto Graham once again leading the way in starts. The second-most quarterback starts during the 50s was Milt Plum, who joined the Browns in 1957 and finished out the decade as their prominent starter.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1960 to 1969
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Milt Plum (1957-1961) | 25 (51) | 0 (1) |
Len Dawson (1960-1961) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Jim Ninowski (1958-1959, 1962-1966) | 10 (11) | 0 (0) |
Frank Ryan (1962-1968) | 76 (76) | 3 (3) |
Gary Lane (1966-1967) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Bill Nelsen (1968-1972) | 25 (51) | 4 (5) |
The 1960s began with Milt Plum continuing to lead the way on offense and he started 25 games in 1960 and 1961. Future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson started one game for Cleveland before he became a superstar in Kansas City. Jim Minowski returned to Cleveland after spending time in Detroit and started 10 games for the team.
Frank Ryan was a consistent starter for the Browns, starting 76 games and three playoff games over his seven-year career in Cleveland. Gary Lane started just one game and Bill Nelsen closed out the decade as the predominant starting quarterback.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Bill Nelsen (1968-1972) | 26 (51) | 1 (5) |
Mike Phipps (1970-1976) | 51 (51) | 1 (1) |
Don Gault (1970) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Brian Sipe (1974-1983) | 60 (112) | 0 (1) |
Will Cureton (1975) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Dave Mays (1976-1977) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Terry Luck (1977) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Bill Nelsen continued to hold things down at the quarterback position for the first few years of the 1970s before paving the way for Mike Phipps to take over full-time. The only other quarterback who started double-digit games in the 70s was Brian Sipe, who spent nearly a decade in Cleveland and started 60 games for them during the 1970s (the most of the decade).
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Brian Sipe (1974-1983) | 52 (112) | 1 (1) |
Paul McDonald (1980-1985) | 21 (21) | 1 (1) |
Bernie Kosar (1985-1993) | 63 (105) | 7 (7) |
Gary Danielson (1985-1988) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Jeff Christiensen (1987) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Mike Pagel (1986-1990) | 4 (7) | 0 (0) |
Don Strock (1988) | 2 (2) | 1 (1) |
The Browns had three quarterbacks who started double-digit games in the 80s. Brian Sipe continued leading the way to kick off the decade, then we had the Paul McDonald era, and finally, the one and only Bernie Kosar was the main starter for the final half of the decade. The rest of the names were backups slotted in as starters when the time came for it.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Bernie Kosar (1985-1993) | 42 (105) | 0 (7) |
Mike Pagel (1986-1990) | 3 (7) | 0 (0) |
Mike Tomczak (1992) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Todd Philcox (1991-1993) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
Vinny Testaverde (1993-1995) | 31 (31) | 2 (2) |
Mark Rypien (1994) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Eric Zeier (1995) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Tim Couch (1999-2003) | 14 (59) | 0 (0) |
Ty Detmer (1999) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
The 1990s is where things get complicated for the organization and not just at quarterback. Sure, they had nine different guys start at quarterback over the decade but the Browns also lost their team when Arthur Modell opted to move them to Baltimore.
Before that took place, Bernie Kosar was the starter at the beginning of the 90s with Mike Pagel, Mike Tomczak, and Todd Philcox making a few spot starts here and there. Vinny Testaverde took over in 1993 and led the charge for three years while Mark Rypien and Eric Zeier had to start a few games in his place.
Once the Browns returned to the league in 1999, they owned the first pick in that year's draft and selected Tim Couch out of Kentucky. This began a long line of unsuccessful quarterbacks in Cleveland, as made famous by the jersey with all of the different names on it. Couch started that trend. Ty Detmer also had a handful of starts in Couch's rookie season as well.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Tim Couch (1999-2003) | 45 (59) | 0 (0) |
Doug Pederson (2000) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Spergon Wynn (2000) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Kelly Holcomb (2001-2004) | 12 (12) | 1 (1) |
Jeff Garcia (2004) | 10 (10) | 0 (0) |
Luke McCown (2004) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Trent Dilfer (2005) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
Charlie Frye (2005-2007) | 19 (19) | 0 (0) |
Derek Anderson (2006-2009) | 34 (34) | 0 (0) |
Brady Quinn (2007-2009) | 12 (12) | 0 (0) |
Ken Dorsey (2006, 2008) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Bruce Gradkowski (2008) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
The Browns had 12 different starting quarterbacks in the new millennium. Tim Couch ended up being a bust but Browns fans had some hope when Kelly Holcomb helped lead the team to its first playoff appearance since re-joining the league. After that didn't work out, the Browns jumped around to Jeff Garcia, Luke McCown, Trent Dilfer, and Akron product Charlie Frye before fans might have had hope at the position again.
Derek Anderson helped lead the Browns to a 10-6 season in 2007 and while they didn't make the playoffs, it looked like they might have finally had their quarterback. Unfortunately, Anderson wasn't the same player moving forward and Brady Quinn, their first-round pick in 2007, also didn't pan out so it was back to the drawing board for the organization.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Colt McCoy (2010-2012) | 21 (21) | 0 (0) |
Jake Delhomme (2010) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Seneca Wallace (2010-2011) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Brandon Weeden (2012-2013) | 20 (20) | 0 (0) |
Thaddeus Lewis (2012) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Jason Campbell (2013) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Brian Hoyer (2013-2014) | 16 (16) | 0 (0) |
Johnny Manziel (2014-2015) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Connor Shaw (2014) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Josh McCown (2015-2016) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
Austin Davis (2015) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Cody Kessler (2016-2017) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Robert Griffin III (2016) | 5 (5) | 0 (0) |
DeShone Kizer (2017) | 15 (15) | 0 (0) |
Kevin Hogan (2016-2017) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Baker Mayfield (2018-2021) | 29 (59) | 0 (2) |
Tyrod Taylor (2018) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
A whopping 17 different quarterbacks started games for the Browns in the 2010s, adding to the lengthy infamous jersey. Out of these 17 signal-callers, only six went on to start double-digit games for the Browns.
Baker Mayfield started the most games at quarterback this decade with 29 starts. The Browns took him first overall in 2018 and he gave them something they hadn't had for a long time, which was a reliable starting quarterback. We'll talk more about Mayfield in the next decade's section.
Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks from 2020 to Present
Name (Time spent with Browns) | Starts this decade (Career starts with Browns) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with Browns) |
|---|---|---|
Baker Mayfield (2018-2021) | 30 (59) | 2 (2) |
Case Keenum (2020-2021) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Nick Mullens (2021) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Jacoby Brissett (2022) | 11 (11) | 0 (0) |
Deshaun Watson (2022-Present) | 12 (12) | 0 (0) |
P.J. Walker (2023) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Dorian Thompson-Robinson (2023-Present) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
Jeff Driskel (2023) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Joe Flacco (2023) | 5 (5) | 1 (1) |
The 2020s has seen nine different quarterbacks start for the Browns and we're not even halfway through the decade yet. To be fair, the 2023 season was not kind to the quarterback position, as the Browns had to start five different quarterbacks that year.
Baker Mayfield kicked off the decade as the starting signal-caller and looked as though he'd be the starter for the foreseeable future after leading the Browns to their first playoff appearance and win in a very long time. As soon as Deshaun Watson became available in a trade, however, the Browns threw everything they could into acquiring him and Mayfield became expendable.
Since then, the Browns have gotten a heavy dose of karma at the position, much like they were used to before Mayfield was drafted. Watson has started 12 games in two seasons and the Browns had to lean on Joe Flacco to get them to the playoffs in the 2023 season.
Hopefully, this franchise can find more stability at the quarterback someday but so far, they haven't been able to do that.
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