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Could Austin Davis help Cleveland Browns?

By Kevin Parvizi

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The Cleveland Browns looked set to head into the 2015 season with just two quarterbacks on their roster (and no, Terrelle Pryor does not count as a QB) in Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel. Neither played well at all in the 2014 season, and what made their quarterback situation all the more concerning is the fact that Manziel is dealing with elbow tendinitis. The good news is that Manziel doesn’t need surgery and will be able to throw soon.

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In the meantime, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns are about to add quarterback to the roster, pending a physical, in former St. Louis Rams backup Austin Davis, who was forced to start last season after another season-ending injury to Sam Bradford. Davis was benched after back-to-back games with two interceptions and completion percentages of around 55%, but, on the bright side, he had a 63.4% completion percentage in his nine starts.

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It seems crazy, but Davis outplayed McCown in every single major stat last season, and the only advantage he had was a better running game. Both of their offensive lines stunk, and McCown had better pass-catchers in Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. And yet it was McCown who threw 14 picks to 11 touchdowns, averaged 6.7 yards per attempt, and completed a gross 56.3% of his passes.

You could argue that McCown was the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last season, whereas Davis at least averaged 7.0 yards per attempt with 12 TDs to nine interceptions before being benched by Shaun Hill.

When discussing Davis, it’s important to note that he was indeed benched by the Rams last season, because he most likely isn’t a viable starting quarterback in this league. He does, however, have his defenders, who like his numbers and are willing to overlook the fact that he only made vanilla throws.

Putting up respectable numbers on easy throws is exactly what you want from a backup quarterback when they are pressed into starting, and that’s exactly what Davis did for the Rams last year. On paper, it’s hard to tell if he’s a No. 2 or No. 3, though, and the Browns could have made it through the season with just McCown and Manziel under center. That said, Davis did put up better numbers than McCown last year, so that could be worth something to the Browns later on in the regular season.

More importantly, Manziel is dealing with an elbow issue and McCown missed five games last year with a thumb injury. Although the Browns could have easily added a veteran quarterback during the regular season if something happened to either McCown or Manziel, it makes sense to pounce on a quality option right now.

I’m not particularly high on Austin Davis as a quarterback, but I still wonder if there’s a chance he could start a game or two for the Browns in 2015. Manziel should deserve the first crack if McCown fails, since the Browns need to gauge the progress that last year’s first-round pick made.

However, it’s conceivable that both quarterbacks could fail this year, so it’s worth taking a shot on Davis as a backup quarterback. Signing Davis- nothing is official yet- would also indicate that Manziel still isn’t healthy enough to play, so that’s another variable to keep in mind.

The Rams simply couldn’t afford to keep Davis on the 53-man roster after selecting Sean Mannion with a third-round pick in this year’s draft, and their belief in Mannion as a potential future starter made him a lock.

What should concern Cleveland Browns fans about Davis- if he’s signed- is that he lost out to Case Keenum for the No. 2 gig on the Rams roster. He’s not a good quarterback, throws too many interceptions, and had no interest around the league as a restricted free agent. Davis put up better numbers than McCown last year, but nobody should realistically expect him to be better. There’s a chance it could happen, but this deal is all about adding veteran insurance while Manziel deals with an injury, since the Browns don’t want to have to scramble if McCown goes down.

Remember, nine touchdowns in nine starts is quite poor, and Davis’s decision-making could make him more of a No. 3 QB than a No. 2 signal-caller if it doesn’t improve. I actually like this signing for the Browns, but I wouldn’t expect Davis to make an impact at this point in time.

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