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The confidence polls are finished for the Cleveland Browns, but there are still important questions to ask. Cleveland has made a lot of coaching changes this offseason in various roles, but the biggest change was the firing of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and replacing him with Ken Dorsey. Dorsey was a former Browns quarterback who later found success as a coordinator with the Buffalo Bills — but then they turned him away during the 2023 season.

What do you think of the Browns hiring Dorsey? We basically have three choices — you like it, you’re indifferent, or you hate it. Regardless of how you vote, feel free to also chime in with your thoughts in the comments.

Our other question asks which team you are pulling for in the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. I’ll have plenty of previews related to the game leading up to it, including some fan engagement and prediction polls, so be sure to stay tuned for that!

BEREA, Ohio — The Greetham Angle will do a position-by-position breakdown and analysis of the roster from 2023 and look ahead to 2024. Here is a breakdown of the quarterback position:

Quarterbacks

Last year at this time, the Cleveland Browns had their first full offseason of preparation with Deshaun Watson, knowing that he would be able to play the entire 2023 season, for the first time since making the blockbuster trade for him in March 2021. Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season by the NFL and the Browns planned to tailor their offense around Watson and his mobile skill-set.

The Browns are committed to Watson and are now putting together their plans to get the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback back to his level of play in the 2020 season when he led the NFL in passing yardage.

Here are the quarterbacks that finished the 2023 season on the active roster or on injured reserve:

Deshaun Watson (6-3, 223, 27, 7th year, Clemson) — Watson’s biggest problem was being able to stay on the field. He started the first three games, then sprained his shoulder, which caused him to miss most of the next month. He then played two games before breaking a bone in his right shoulder in a win over the Ravens on Nov. 12, ending his season.

Overall, in his six games, Watson was 5-1 as the starting quarterback. He finished 105-of-171 for 1,115 yards (61.4 pct.), including 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. His rating was 84.3. Watson also rushed 26 times for 142 yards (5.5 avg.), including one touchdown. Watson is beginning his third season of a five-year contract with the Browns. His salary cap number for 2024 currently stands at $63.977 million, but the Browns will certainly re-structure the contract, once again, as they have since he arrived.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson (6-2, 203, 24, Rookie, UCLA) — Thompson-Robinson was thrust into a starting role when Watson could not play against the Ravens in the fourth game of the season and the results were disastrous. He ended up starting three games, but suffered a concussion and then ended the season on injured reserve with a hip injury.

Thompson-Robinson finished his rookie season 60-of-112 (53.6 pct) for 440 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. His rating was 51.2. He rushed 14 times for 65 yards (4.6 avg.). Thompson is entering the second year of his rookie contract and his salary cap number for 2024 is $1 million

P.J. Walker (5-11, 215, 28, 4th year, Temple) — Walker was signed to the practice squad after Dobbs was traded and was elevated to the roster to start against the 49ers, leading the Browns to the win. Walker was 54-of-111 (48.6 pct.) for 674 with one touchdown and five interceptions. His rating was 52.2. He rushed for 30 yards on 13 carries. Walker is a free agent.

Joe Flacco (6-6, 245, 39, 16th year, Delaware) — Flacco was signed to the practice squad after Watson was placed on injured reserve. He started five straight games and led the Browns on a four-game winning streak that clinched a playoff berth. Flacco is a free agent.

Flacco was 123-of-204 (60.3 pct.) for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His rating was 90.2. In the playoff loss to the Texans, Flacco was 34-of-46 (73.9 pct.) for 307 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Including the playoff game, Flacco threw for 300 or more yards in five of his six games with the Browns.

Jeff Driskel (6-4, 235, 30, 8th year, Louisiana Tech) — Driskel was signed to the active roster after Thompson-Robinson was placed on injured reserve. He started the season finale against the Bengals and was 13-of-26 for 166 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His rating was 63.9. He rushed seven times for 33 yards. Driskel is a free agent.

Summary and Looking Ahead

The Browns’ entire offseason, once again, is about getting Watson up to speed completely in the offense and getting totally in sync with the system Kevin Stefanski wants to run to utilize his skill set.

The Browns finished 19th in the NFL in passing, averaging just 217.2 yards per game. It is somewhat amazing the passing game was actually better in 2023 than it was in 2022, despite playing five different starting quarterbacks. The Browns won games with four different starters on their way to an 11-6 record and a berth in the playoffs,

Despite all of the injuries at the most important position on offense, Stefanski decided to move on from offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and tight ends coach T.J. McCartney after the season. One of the more significant coaching decisions was hiring new coordinator Ken Dorsey, who will help put together a passing attack that can be as successful as it was with Flacco in the final third of the season.

The offense was as explosive as it has been in the Stefanski era in the final games of the season under Flacco and the Browns are committed to seeing it flourish under Watson.

Flacco said he intends to play in 2024 and the Browns would like him back to backup Watson, but he is expected to explore what opportunities might be available to him. Thompson-Robinson is expected to be in the mix in 2024, as well.

Watson and Thompson-Robinson are under contract for 2024 and a third quarterback will most likely be added, whether it be Flacco or an experienced veteran like him.

The Browns realized the importance of having an experienced backup who can step in to win games too late in the season and will likely not make the same mistake again in 2024 of not having an experienced quarterback on the roster.

Andrew Berry built a team to win now and needs a quarterback like Flacco that can step in if Watson misses time again in 2024, due to injury. Regardless of whether Flacco returns or not, the Browns will likely have another experienced quarterback on the roster.

Overall, the Browns are doing everything possible to help Watson get back to his form in 2020 when he was 382-of-544 attempts for 4,823 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

His rating was 112.4 and his completion percentage was 70.2. Watson led the NFL in passing yardage in 2020 on his way to his third Pro Bowl.

The entire offseason and foreseeable future is predicated on Watson returning to the level of play that he displayed in his first four seasons with the Texans.

Berry said keeping Watson on the field in 2024 is a top priority.

“We’d all love to have him on the field more often,” Berry said. “I think that’s safe to say, himself included. I do feel really good about him, happy with the progress that he’s made within our organization, both on the field and off the field, and we’re looking forward to getting him back next year.

“We think he’s going to have a really big year and have a ton of confidence in him as our starting quarterback.”

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