Newsletter: The Secret That Unlocks Kevin Stefanski Wins in Cleveland

It really is just that simple.

BEREA, OHIO - JULY 28: Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns throws a pass during Cleveland Browns training camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on July 28, 2025 in Berea, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

As we watch the Browns push through Training Camp the constant discussion is the quarterback battle. Look, rightfully so. The Browns are one of the few teams with a murky starting quarterback situation headed into the season and their battle just so happens to have four candidates for the job. Quarterback competitions are far from unusual, but having the job open to four candidates is precisely far from the norm.

Now, some of this depends on how seriously you take the rookies’ chances in this situation, but if we are to truly believe they are vying for the Week 1 job, I challenge any reader to find a situation similar to this one in recent memory.

The league’s franchises try their best to carefully calculate the position. The Browns have been similar in approach for the better part of Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry tenure in Cleveland. They inherited Baker Mayfield and then carefully calculated a trade for Deshaun Watson. They have now drafted Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders. They signed Case Keenum, Jacoby Brissett, and Jameis Winston among others. They have done nothing but show aggression at the position for years.

But inside that eager aggression is the simple fact the Browns just need average at the position. Let’s discuss.

Since the 2019 season, fully understanding this predates Stefanski by one year, the Browns have found success with average quarterback play. If they found it with any consistency the results would be far less capricious than we have seen over the course of the last three years. Let me explain.

Here is the average NFL Passer Rating by year:
2024 - 92.3
2023 - 89.0
2022 - 89.1
2021 - 90.8
2020 - 93.6
2019 - 90.4

Here is the Browns record since 2019 when the Passer Rating for the Browns quarterback was at or above the average and why it is a big deal.
4-1, 2019 (Baker Mayfield)
8-0, 2020 (Baker Mayfield)