After only three years, Baker Mayfield already ranks in the top 10 of Browns quarterbacks. (CBSSports)
The Browns at 75 years old: Where does Baker Mayfield rank among Browns quarterbacks all time?
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Browns, I will commemorate the franchise with periodic lists honoring top moments, players, coaches, games and characters from my history as a beat writer and analyst.
The category: Top 10 quarterbacks
When ranking quarterbacks over a 75-year span, it’s important not to be overly swayed by personal statistics.
Latter-day quarterbacks are going to accumulate gaudier numbers because teams just didn’t throw the ball as much in earlier decades. Changes in offensive styles and rules promoting offense naturally favor quarterbacks over the past 20 years.
No matter the style of play, however, the task of the quarterback has remained unchanged. He is charged with leading the team to victory – whether by managing his own game and depending on other playmakers, or by rising to the occasion and making things happen when needed.
The best quarterbacks can rescue a tough personal day with one good drive with the game on the line. Ultimately, finding a way to get the W is their only job.
10. Derek Anderson: 2006-09, 39 games, 16 wins-18 losses, 46 touchdowns, 45 interceptions, 69.7 passer rating.
A Cinderella story in 2007, he relieved Charlie Frye after one half in the season opener and won 10 of 15 starts as the pilot of a well-stocked offense. His magical ride took him all the way to the Pro Bowl after the Browns fell a tie-breaker short of the playoffs. The big year resulted in contract extensions for him, coach Romeo Crennel, offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski and general manager Phil Savage. The latter three were fired a year later. Anderson made it through 2009 after winning only six games over his last two years.
9. Vinny Testaverde: 1993-95, 37 games, 16-15, 47 TD, 37 INT, 80.9 rating.
Marvelous athleticism couldn’t win him the starting job over Bernie Kosar at the University of Miami, but it enticed Bill Belichick to sign him to displace Kosar with the Browns. Under enormous pressure to replace the iconic fan favorite, Testaverde responded well enough to lead the Browns to the postseason and a playoff win over Belichick’s mentor, Bill Parcells, thanks to an NFL- and franchise-best defense. Nobody threw a prettier ball or looked better dropping back in the pocket.
8. Tim Couch: 1999-03, 62 games, 22-37, 64 TD, 67 INT, 75.1 rating.
He is one of the most under-appreciated players in Browns history. The No. 1 overall pick of the 1999 expansion franchise, Couch persevered through uniquely tough times and led it to a post-season appearance in its fourth year of existence, only to be denied playing in the playoffs because of yet another of his many injuries. Couch held the expansion-era record with 22 career wins until Baker Mayfield surpassed him last year. Couch’s win in Pittsburgh in 2003 also stood for 18 years as the only road win against the Steelers until Mayfield posted a post-season triumph in Heinz Field in January.
7. Milt Plum: 1957-61, 59 games, 33-16-2, 66 TD, 39 INT, 89.9 rating.
Drafted in the second round in 1957, he was the beneficiary of Jim Brown’s arrival with the first-round pick. Plum capably bridged the gap between Otto Graham and Frank Ryan – the Browns’ only championship quarterbacks – winning 63.7 percent of his starts. He led the NFL three years in a row in completion percentage and his 110.4 passer rating in 1960 – built on a 21-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a then-astounding 10.0 yards per attempt -- stood as the league’s single-season best until Joe Montana hurled a 112.4 in 1989.
6. Brian Sipe: 1974-83, 125 games, 57-55, 154 TD, 149 INT, 74.8 rating.
Dashing good looks and the fearless leader of Sam Rutigliano’s Kardiac Kids made Sipe one of the franchise’s most popular players. He rose from 13th-round draft pick and two years on the “taxi squad” to league MVP in 1980. He is the franchise record-holder in attempts, completions and passing yards, and is second in touchdowns. Barely six feet tall and 185 pounds, he was the definition of the intangible quality called moxie.
5. Baker Mayfield: 2018-20, 46 games, 23-22, 75 TD, 43 INT, 89.1 rating.
Aside from Couch, no Browns quarterback suffered more challenges at the outset of his career. He was the NFL’s No. 1 overall draft pick after an 0-16 season and played for four head coaches, four offensive coordinators and four QB coaches in three seasons. Despite organizational dysfunction, he broke rookie passing records held by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson his first season and has made 45 consecutive regular-season starts. In his third season, Mayfield took the Browns to their first playoff appearance in 18 years and their first post-season win on the road in 51 years.
4. Bill Nelsen: 1968-72, 58 games, 34-16-1, 71 TD, 71 INT, 72.1 rating.
A 10th-round draft choice of the Steelers, he was traded to the Browns in 1968 for another quarterback, Dick Shiner. Despite chronically creaky knees, Nelsen twice led the Browns to within one win of the Super Bowl. If not for post-season losses to the Colts in 1968 and the Vikings in 1969, the Browns would have represented the NFL in Super Bowls III and IV against the American Football League-champion Jets and Chiefs. Nelsen’s success with the Browns prompted Steelers owner Dan Rooney to vow to never trade again with his arch-rivals. That embargo lasted for 45 years until Rooney’s son green-lighted a minor draft-day trade with Joe Banner.
3. Bernie Kosar: 1985-93, 108 games, 53-51-1, 116 TD, 81 INT, 81.6 rating.
The Youngstown, OH native stunned the sports world not only by announcing he wanted to play in Cleveland at a time nobody else did, he deftly manipulated the draft to play for his boyhood favorite team. By his second season, Kosar lifted the Browns into the AFC elite. In two heart-breaking Browns losses in the AFC Championship Game, Kosar outplayed John Elway. Kosar was never the same following a severe elbow injury in the 1988 season opener in Kansas City. Still, he willed the Browns to a third championship meeting with Elway in 1989, won again by Denver. Limited athletically, the gangly Kosar invented more throwing angles than Patrick Mahomes and specialized in beating defenses with voracious film study that resulted in uncanny anticipation and the ability to audible to the right play at the line of scrimmage.
2. Frank Ryan: 1962-68, 84 games, 52-22-2, 134 TD, 88 INT, 81.4 rating.
Traded to the Browns on his 26th birthday by the Rams, Ryan led the Browns to their last NFL Championship in 1964, a stunning upset of the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts. A severe shoulder injury suffered in the Pro Bowl following the title game affected the rest of his career, though he earned two more Pro Bowl berths when they really meant something. Ryan was a math scholar who earned his Ph. D. in NFL off-seasons and proceeded to a post-playing career as an academician, including stints at Yale University, Rice and Case Western Reserve.
1. Otto Graham: 1946-55, 126 games, 57-13-1 (NFL), 174 TD, 135 INT, 86.6 rating.
Nobody – not even Tom Brady – can match Graham’s record as a winner. In 10 seasons, he led the Browns to 10 league championship appearances and seven league titles, four coming in the All-America Football Conference. His dominance continued with a championship in the Browns’ first season in the NFL and two others before he retired. Graham officially was the first player signed when Paul Brown started rounding up a team in anticipation of the 1946 Browns’ lift-off. By the time Jim Brown arrived via the 1957 draft, the Browns’ dynasty had come and gone.PreviouslyMy top 10 gamesMy top 10 head coachesMy top 10 running backsMy top 10 wide receivers
