This season, predicting the Browns’ starting quarterback has been similar to spinning a roulette wheel in Las Vegas. With a changing cast of players starting at quarterback, including Deshaun Watson, P.J. Walker, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, it has been challenging for Cleveland’s offense to establish any kind of rhythm.
The Browns passing attack is now 27th in the league in passing yards per game (181.2 ypg) and second worst in the league in yards per play (5.7) as a result of that quarterback carousel. They have only managed nine touchdowns via the air in 11 games overall. Perhaps most damning of all, Cleveland ranks sixth among teams with an offensive EPA per play of -.125.
Amari Cooper, the standout wide receiver, has perhaps been the one constant in the passing for the majority of the season. During the nine games in which Watson and P.J. Walker were the Browns’ primary wide receivers, he was targeted seventy-two times, catching forty of those passes for 700 yards and two touchdowns.
For Watson and Walker, Cooper has always been dependable, something that isn’t the case when rookie Thompson-Robinson is the team’s signal caller. Cooper’s stats have plummeted in his three games under center, including a difficult NFL debut against the Ravens in Week 4. He has only caught seven passes for 66 yards and has failed to score a single touchdown. In an uncommon error by the normally deft 29-year-old, he did have a two-point conversion slip through his fingers in Sunday’s loss to Denver.
It’s not always that targets have been the problem. Thompson-Robinson has attempted 20 passes to Cooper over his three starts, however he has only made contact on 35% of the passes that have been attempted, with many of them ending up completely uncatchable.
Unquestionably, when Cooper has the ball, wonderful things happen. When he catches four or more passes in a game, the Browns are 5-2. The former Cowboy is seventh among his NFL peers in yards per reception.
All of this being said, it’s reasonable to ask if Kevin Stefanski may be forced to start veteran backup Joe Flacco this weekend against the Rams, especially since the Browns
may actually be a key to re-unlocking Cooper in this offense.