There’s never been a time when the Browns QB room hasn’t been a dramatic mess, with 2025 looking to be the biggest drama yet. With four QBs gunning for that starting role, it’s the kind of instability only the Browns find themselves in time after time. So let’s go over the Browns QB room for 2025!
Starting With the Most Hated Man In the League, Deshaun Watson!
And rightfully so, the former NFL MVP is now being paid $230 million after being accused by 24 women of sexual misconduct. Last year he showed the Browns they sold their soul and franchise QB, Baker Mayfield, away for nothing as Watson was one of the worst starters in the NFL.
With stinkers like a 15-of-17 128-yard no-TD performance, plus having the fifth-lowest net yards per pass attempt of all QBs in the league weeks 1-6 and having the worst EPA for NFL QBs weeks 1-6 since Kyle Boller in 2003. It’s his regression and controversy that got the Browns’ QB room here to begin with. He will not play in 2025 due to injury. That makes everyone below him that much more important.
Onto Someone Much More Likeable: SB Champion, Joe Flacco!
The man who led the Browns to the playoffs in place of Watson and even earned comeback player of the year over a man who collapsed on the field after a cardiac arrest and proceeded to improve his coverage skills the next year. He was an immediate improvement over Watson, who had a poor 1-5 record to start his 2024 Browns season, with Flacco going 4-1 from weeks 13 to 17 of 2023. Flacco improving over Watson’s total yards per game (387.8 vs. 240.2) and 3rd down percentage (34.2% vs. 19.2%)
Flacco, of course, has had a long 16-year career and an accomplished career at that. Having 45,697 career passing yards and 257 career passing touchdowns, winning 105 of his 191 career regular season starts. Peaking in 2012 when he led the Browns’ hated rival, the Baltimore Ravens, to the Super Bowl and then a championship.
He tied the record for most passing TDs in a postseason run with 11 and winning Super Bowl MVP. Going from leading their hated enemies to now being the brightest hope in the Browns QB room. He brings leadership for the Browns and tons of experience for the younger QBs in the Browns QB room.
That’s Not the Last SB Champion In the Room: Kenny Pickett
Pickett, the man drafted from Pittsburgh onto the Pittsburgh Steelers after a struggle session in his two seasons there. He left but stayed in state and went to the Eagles. He won the Super Bowl as Jalen Hurts’ backup, even throwing a pass in the big game. After that triumph, he now finds himself a part of the Browns QB room. Many have him labeled a bust for his poor time with the team that drafted him, but I disagree. I believe the Steelers failed him, not vice versa, and he should be considered equal to Flacco in terms of having the chance to be the leader of the Browns QB room.
Pickett was under infamously bad Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada, who used outdated concepts that defenses schemed out 20-30 years ago. The Steelers had the third-shortest average pass on first down and lowest explosive pass percentage on 1st down in all of the NFL during Canada’s time. Many teams, when passing on 1st down, go for an explosive pass and skip 2nd and 3rd down entirely.
This limits the space Pickett has to work in, a struggle no other QB had to face during this time, forcing him to choose the path of most resistance. Limiting how good his good plays were, only highlighted the bad ones further!
Not to mention constantly running on 2nd and long and being one of the top teams on 2nd down during 2023. Meaning teams pack the box, the backs go nowhere, and 3rd down is that much harder for Pickett. Not to mention the complete lack of pre-snap motion under Canada. Something he completely abandoned during his time as a college OC. It means he’s not getting players into the best possible position to make plays either. Not helping that instead of stacks or bunches to help get receivers open, he relies on short comeback routes like hitches or curls.
More Pickett Analysis
The main reason I say Pickett is underrated, however, is because whenever the 4th quarter hit he was allowed to call audibles and take off the 500-pound shackles Canada put on him. Whenever that happened, he played great! Relying on another young player George Pickens.
In 2023 he had the third-highest EPA of all QBs in the league and even led the Steelers on a five-game winning streak where they were behind heading into the fourth quarter. Pickett, in 21 games, had six 4th-quarter comebacks and seven game-winning drives. The same amount as the best-ever Steelers QB, “Big Ben,” in 20 games. If he’s given a chance to become the leader of the Browns QB room with an offensive genius like Kevin Stefanski leading him, I’m sure he can show the world his true talent!
Dillon Gabriel Looks To Impress In Browns QB Room
He is one of the two rookies being introduced to the Browns QB room this season. Gabriel is the one with the least fanfare, but he’s still worth talking about! The man picked in the 3rd round is certainly undersized at 5’11”, but to be optimistic, so was ex-All-Pro QB Russell Wilson, who was also picked in the 3rd round. Gabriel is also coming off one of the most impressive statistical college careers ever.
He tied Case Keenum for most career passing TDs, is second in career passing yards, and holds the record for most games played in a college football career with 64. In his career, he played for three different colleges and three different systems in a mid-tier conference and then the Big 10. He adapted each time, even winning Big 10 MVP. Maybe adapting to the NFL will be another challenge he can overcome, and one day he can lead the Browns QB room!
Shedeur Sanders Is a Polarizing Member Of the Browns QB Room
He was drafted in the 5th round due to him being the son of one of the most polarizing NFL players of all time Deion Sanders. He was pulled into his dad’s media circus. That created his own, especially after he fell from being the guy who was supposed to be the second QB picked to the sixth QB picked in the 5th round. The biggest slide in draft history. Recently an NFL insider has said his roster spot inside the Browns QB room is in potential jeopardy, which makes sense with so many QBs with great resumes in their own right fighting for spots on the same roster.
Shedeur is a very accomplished college quarterback, winning the 2021 Jerry Rice Award, the 2022 Deacon Jones Trophy, and the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He even got his jersey retired at Colorado. In his senior year, he threw for 4,134 yards, throwing for 37 touchdowns with 4 more on the ground, good enough to lead Colorado to be ranked at the end of the season and finish top 10 in the Heisman race. And how he earned a spot in the Browns QB room.
NFL scouts praise his ability to extend plays, let routes develop, and hit receivers in spots they can run after the catch. He is very accurate from the pocket, but they do say he creates his own pressure by extending plays too long, has a long throwing motion, and lacks the athleticism to run outside the pocket.
Further Analysis
His draft slide is said to be because of his draft interview and how GMs were turned off by his arrogance. This could be attributed to how his dad (arguably the most arrogant athlete in history) told him to conduct himself and something I’ll write about later that I call the “QBs can’t have personality epidemic.”
Despite these issues, he’s showing promising signs in OTAs, according to insiders. And with so many veterans in the Browns QB room, he likely won’t have to start on day 1 and can develop behind a great vet like Flacco or Pickett and can get feedback from the coaching staff led by Stefanski. That’s where he’ll have to make the biggest adjustment of his career, as it’ll be the first time in his career he isn’t coached by his dad, and will have to get used to that kind of environment. Who do you think will start out of the Browns QB room in 2025?
