Now that Deshaun Watson has been cleared from his suspension to start at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, the odd man out is Jacoby Brissett — the erstwhile backup who completed 236 of 368 passes for 2608 yards, 12 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 89.1 in his 12-week stand-in role. Brissett is in his first year with the Browns after bouncing around the league from the New England Patriots, to the Indianapolis Colts, to the Miami Dolphins, and then the Browns on a one-year, $4.65 million contract.
What makes Brissett’s future especially interesting is not the body of the season; it’s what he did in the second half of his time with the Browns. From Week 7 through Week 12, he completed 112 of 162 passes for 1,282 yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 102.4 — eighth-best in the league. Brissett also rounds out his starting tenure this season ranked sixth in the NFL in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted DVOA metric among quarterbacks, and sixth in DYAR. As DVOA is more of a play-to-play efficiency metric, and DYAR is more cumulative, that pretty much covers it all.
Moreover, it’s clear that Brissett has gained the trust of his coaches and teammates as everyone in Cleveland prepares for the bleepshow that Watson’s ascent will bring.
“It has been huge having him as one of our leaders,” guard Joel Bitonio said of Brissett after Sunday’s 23-17 overtime win over the Buccaneers that brought the Browns to 4-7 on the season. “He always talks about us and the team. Obviously, he never talks about himself, but I was thinking that we have to get one more because he has played better than 3-7 or whatever our record was before tonight. He deserved a few more wins in there, so I am glad we got him one more here, and you never know.
“I think he has done as good as he can be asked. If you just take Deshaun out of the picture, which he was out for a long time, it just felt like Jacoby’s team. Now with Deshaun coming back, I think he has a presence that takes a step back, but he is still going to be there for what he sees. He has played in 11 games now, and he has done everything you can ask of him. I really appreciate him, and he is one of my favorite quarterbacks I have played with.”
Safety and defensive captain John Johnson III took it further.
“It is love,” Johnson said, when asked how it felt to win Brissett’s final game. “I think he exceeded expectations, and the record doesn’t show how well he has been playing. He knew what he had to do, and everyone on the team was proud. Like I had been saying, it could be a spark for us in a change of position for us. We will see.”
Next season, Brissett has the chance to be somebody else’s favorite quarterbacks. And based on his 2022 tape — especially based on the improvements in the second half of his 12-week stretch — it’s possible that Brissett hasn’t just turned a few minor corners; he might be ready to be the full-scale starting quarterback he hasn’t been to date.
Throwing decisively into tight windows.
If there’s one thing I think held Brissett back in previous years, it was that his internal clock worked too slowly. He would get himself into pressure situations and miss receivers because things just took too long in his head. Now, I see a quarterback with more confidence, and thus, he’s not afraid to turn it loose into tight windows with mostly positive results.
We saw this on a simple slant to Amari Cooper with 2:45 left in overtime against the Buccaneers — this was a key play on the drive that led to Nick Chubb’s game-winning touchdown run. The Bucs were in Cover-2, and Brissett had cornerback Carlton Davis and Lavonte David closing in on Cooper. Didn’t matter; Brissett was going to make that bullet throw with timing and anticipation, and Cooper caught the ball. This is a top-tier throw.
We also saw this characteristic on a 23-yard completion to Donovan Peoples-Jones in Week 10 against the Miami Dolphins. In this case, Brissett couldn’t throw with his normal timing because he was pressured. But he used fine pocket movement to extend the play, and zinged the ball between cornerback Xavien Howard and linebacker Blake Ferguson where Peoples-Jones could get it. You don’t want your quarterback depending too often on throws like these because of the attendant risks, but it’s a nice tool to have in the box.
Maximizing his odds under pressure.
From Weeks 1-6 of the 2022 season, per Pro Football Focus, Brissett was a disaster under pressure — he completed 22 of 51 passes under pressure for 298 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 29.7. Only Zach Wilson (3.4) and Mac Jones (13.9) were worse.
But from Week 7 through Sunday, the light came on. Brissett completed 24 of 49 passes under pressure for 349 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 77.7. Not Hall of Fame stuff, but a definitive improvement.
What’s the difference? Pretty simple. Recently, Brissett stopped lobbing the ball up with desperation heaves when pressure was at its most prominent. That’s how he got in trouble before with two interceptions under pressure against the New England Patriots in Week 6. This kind of stuff will just kill a passing game.
On this 25-yard touchdown to Cooper against the Bills, watch how much more Brissett uses pocket movement to maintain calm under pressure. Now, he’s not fighting to re-set his body. He’s on it, and this is a great slot fade ball with Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson all over his target.
Brissett has been a far better passer in the pocket than he is when he tries to make things happen outside of it. Pocket movement, not pocket escapability, is a key to his success.
Improving as a creator of explosive plays.
The recent improvement under pressure has also been evident on deeper throws. In the first six weeks of the season, per Sports Info Solutions, Brissett completed 44 of 92 passes on throws past the sticks for 725 yards, 597 air yards, five touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 73.7. Since then? 32 completions in 49 attempts for 645 yards, 510 air yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 135.8.
Earlier in the season, it seemed that Brissett was struggling to diagnose what he had against what coverage on deeper throws. That is not as much of a problem anymore. This 38-yard completion to Donovan Peoples-Jones against the Dolphins shows that Brissett — when working in the timing and rhythm of the play — can be as effective a deep thrower as just about anybody in the league.
There is one thing that, if corrected on a larger scale, would make Brissett an even more dangerous deep thrower, and perhaps push him up a couple of levels in the Quarterback Pantheon, so let’s get to that.
What still needs work.
Brissett’s deliberate nature does still get in the way at times; there are instances in which you want to see him adjust and turn it loose in the timing of the down. This dee incomplete pass to Anthony Schwartz with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday looked like an easy completion once Schwartz beat Tampa’s missteps in Cover-2 — they didn’t correctly factor in the motion. But Brissett waited and drifted until cornerback Jamel Dean had time to recover, and by that time, the window was closed. If Brissett throws this ball when he’s standing on the “W” in the end zone, instead of past the “N” and all the way to the “S,” it’s an explosive play.
This late throw to tight end David Njoku on a deep over route against the Bills in Week 10 tells a similar story. Njoku is running free through the guts of Buffalo’s Cover-3; you probably want to throw it before Jordan Poyer — the NFL’s best coverage safety has a chance to catch up.
So, maybe it’s ingrained, and maybe only so much of that can be eliminated by coaching. But it’s not the fatal flaw it used to be — primarily, it prevents Brissett from becoming the kind of great deep passer his tools indicate that he could be.
Where would he best fit?
Brissett would be best in an offense where movement outside the pocket is not a priority, full-field reads are the order of the day, and the quarterback isn’t beholden to any particular personnel or schematic conceit. Brissett has been around long enough, and has performed in enough offenses, to be past that. He’s not really a “system quarterback” in a pejorative sense, but there are concepts he’s more comfortable with, and that’s true of any quarterback.
The Buccaneers, Colts, and Texans are three pocket-heavy teams with possible needs at quarterback in 2023. You never know what might happen with Derek Carr in the offseason, but Brissett might also be a great fit in the Raiders’ offense.
The point is, what Brissett has shown in the 2022 season puts him on track for a possible professional renaissance in the Geno Smith mold than to be doomed as a career backup. Having done all this under some of the oddest circumstances possible is a serious feather in his cap.
“I don’t take being in the locker room lightly or being in the huddle and going to work with these guys,” Brissett concluded after his final win. “I don’t take that lightly. I just try to go out there and be myself, put my best foot forward, work hard and be somebody the players can lean on. That is better than the win.”
Now, it’s up to the NFL to tell Jacoby Brissett how much it all really means.
