How the Browns should use Jacoby Brissett.

Jacoby Brissett has only played two meaningful seasons in the NFL, both for the Indianapolis Colts, in 2017 and 2019, and yet the Cleveland Browns appear to be very confident in their backup quarterback being successful in their first 11 games of the 2022 season. Here's why...

Let's take a look at his 2017 and 2019 stats. 

2017 season.

In 2017 he played 15 games, threw for 3,098 yards for 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He had a completion percentage of 58.8% and a quarterback rating of 81.7. The Colts went 4-11.

2019 season.

In 2019 he played 15 games, threw for 2,942 yards for 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. He had a completion percentage of 60.9% and a quarterback rating of 88.0. The Colts went 7-8.

These stats are not flashy and they're certainly not great, but they are good. What stands out is that Brissett is a safe quarterback, with only 13 interceptions, and an interception rate of 1.4% and a 60% career completion rate. In other words he has a high floor, and the Browns' may well be looking for that coming off four seasons with Baker Mayfield who was far more of an unreliable gun-slinger.

The detail.

When looking at Brissett in more detail, he may well be a very good fit for the Browns' scheme. With safe quarterback play, a very strong defense, and the best running attack in the NFL, solid quarterback play could well see the Browns make the playoffs. It's possible that the higher quality of players on the Browns roster compared to the 2017 and 2019 Colts rosters could elevate his quarterback play. 

The Browns broadly use a gap based run scheme, with vertical passing plays and play-action calls. They use screens and deception well in a quick passing game and look for zone reads from their quarterback. The Browns also favour bootlegs and pulling guard plays, and with the exception of boots, these suit Brissett perfectly. He's an intelligent quarterback, who can be used to make safe plays in shorter distances, but who won't risk dangerous throws into coverage. This could well cause some frustrations on third down, but the Browns' are expecting their run game and defense to keep them in games and make them close, especially against the more high powered offenses. An analysis of his throws in Indianapolis show that he was only below average consistently in 10-20 yard throws, but these tend to be the tight window throws that the Browns will look to avoid.  

With Brissett at quarterback for the first 11 games the Browns need to increase their running snaps. As a rough guide, in 2021 Baker threw 30 times a game and the Browns ran the ball about 26 times with Chubb taking 16 carries. The Browns averaged 20 points a game, but the teams who made the playoffs averaged 24 points a game. The Browns therefore need to increase their average points a game by four and the best chance to achieve this is by increasing their running plays. In 2017 Brissett threw the ball 31 times and went 4-11, and in 2019 he threw the ball 29 times and the went 7-8. In 2022 he needs to throw the ball about 25-26 times which means the Browns need to increase their running carries to about 30. If Chubb is given the ball 20 times with his average of 5.5 yards per carry that's over 1000 yards for him alone. With Hunt, Johnson and Ford contributing the rest of the carries that's probably a minimum of 1,600 yards in the season.

The stats favour this increase in running plays for the Browns. Last season the Browns running offense ranked fourth overall with 26 carries per game. 26 carries/game was the ninth ranked team in the NFL and the Browns ranked seventh in running touchdowns. Yet the Browns have the best running back room in the entire league and one of the top offensive lines so increasing the running plays should be a priority, and this should net them the extra points they need  to potentially make the playoffs. 

Baker Mayfield is a better quarterback than Jacoby Brissett, but Baker played injured for all last season and the Browns still finished with a 8-9 record. All Brissett has to do is make the throws that Baker was asked to, but didn't, and the Browns should be in the Division and Playoff hunt by the time Deshaun Watson returns. In addition, the Browns players respect Brissett, they really like his leadership and have bought into him as a person which they didn't do under Baker. Don't write the Browns out for 2022, they might just be the dark horses in the AFC.