It was confirmed on Wednesday that on Sunday Austin Davis will be the Cleveland Browns’ 24th starting quarterback since 1999.
Some facts:
- During that span, 239 quarterbacks have started at least one game. More than 10 percent of the league’s starting pivots over the last 17 years have done so at least once as members of the Browns.
- Three of those quarterbacks have only started for Cleveland and nobody else: Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw and Tim Couch.
- Couch has also started the most games for Cleveland in that time frame (59). Derek Anderson (34) and Colt McCoy (21) come second and third. And the only other quarterbacks who have started a full season’s worth of games in Cleveland are Brandon Weeden (20), Charlie Frye (19) and Brian Hoyer (16).
- Davis will at least temporarily join Shaw, Thaddeus Lewis, Bruce Gradkowski and Spergon Wynn as quarterbacks with exactly one start for the Browns during that span.
- The rest of the quarterbacks on the list: Kelly Holcomb (12), Brady Quinn (12), Trent Dilfer (11), Jeff Garcia (10), Jason Campbell (8), Josh McCown (8), Doug Pederson (8), Seneca Wallace (7), Jake Delhomme (4), Luke McCown (4), Ken Dorsey (3) and Ty Detmer (2).
- Eight of the 24 made their first — and in some cases only — start(s) with Cleveland as rookies: Couch, Wynn, Luke McCown, Frye, Anderson, McCoy, Weeden and Manziel. (Quinn didn’t start as a rookie.)
- The only one of the 24 with a winning record during that span is Hoyer, who went 10-6 with the Browns in 2013 and 2014. (Delhomme went 2-2 in 2010.)
- Josh McCown’s 93.3 rating is by far the highest among the group of 24, exactly 10 points ahead of Holcomb and Lewis. Those are the only three with ratings above 80. (Manziel ranks fourth at 78.5.)
- The lowest rating goes to Gradkowski, who completed just five of 16 passes in a 31-0 loss in his only start as a Brown. In two appearances that year, he amassed a passer rating of 2.8.
- The oldest was Josh McCown, who started last week as a 36-year-old. The youngest was Manziel, who had just turned 22 when he made his first start last season.
- The tallest was 6-foot-6 Derek Anderson. The shortest was 5-foot-11 Seneca Wallace. The heaviest was Quinn (232) and the lightest was Detmer (189).
- Couch was the only No. 1 overall pick, but five other first-round picks have started for Cleveland (Dilfer, Manziel, Quinn, Weeden and Campbell). Strangely, Manziel, Quinn and Weeden were all selected 22nd overall.
- Not a single one of the 24 was drafted in the second round. Frye, McCoy and Josh McCown were drafted in Round 3, Luke McCown and Wallace were drafted in Round 4, Wynn, Gradkowski and Anderson were drafted in Round 6, Dorsey was drafted in Round 7 and Detmer was selected in the ninth round way back in 1992.
- Eight members of the group were drafted by the Browns, eight were drafted by other teams, and eight weren’t drafted at all (Davis will be the eighth undrafted starter among the group).
- Ten of the 24 quarterbacks started their careers with the Browns (the eight they drafted, plus Lewis and Cook).
- No other NFL team has used more than 18 quarterbacks since 1999, and Cleveland’s total is nearly double the NFL average for that span.
Starting quarterbacks by team since 1999
1. Browns (24)
2. Bears (18)
2. Dolphins (18)
2. Raiders (18)
2. Rams (18)
6. Cowboys (17)
6. Vikings (17)
6. Bucs (17)
9. Cardinals (16)
9. Bills (16)
9. Redskins (16)
12. Ravens (14)
12. Jets (14)
12. 49ers (14)
15. Panthers (13)
15. Broncos (13)
15. Lions (13)
15. Titans (13)
NFL average (13)
19. Jaguars (12)
19. Chiefs (12)
19. Eagles (12)
22. Falcons (11)
22. Texans (11)
24. Steelers (10)
24. Seahawks (10)
26. Saints (9)
27. Bengals (8)
28. Chargers (7)
29. Colts (6)
30. Packers (5)
30. Giants (5)
32. Patriots (3)
