Joe Flacco came back to the Cleveland Browns this offseason to tighten up a messy quarterback room, and he wound up winning a four-man competition to win the Week 1 starting job ahead of rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, while Kenny Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders to provide even more clarity.
There is plenty of excitement about having Flacco back under center, but one analyst recently revealed what Flacco’s biggest weakness is heading into the 2025 season.
John Kosko of Pro Football Focus recently wrote an article highlighting every starting quarterback’s biggest weakness, and the one he selected for Flacco won’t come as a surprise to anybody who has watched him over the past 17 years.
“Biggest Weakness: Lack of mobility,” Kosko wrote. “Flacco has scrambled on just 1.1% of his dropbacks over the past two seasons, the third-lowest rate in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 300 dropbacks. While that tendency in and of itself isn’t necessarily bad, the fact that the Cleveland Browns’ offensive line is poor makes it an issue. The Browns’ offensive line earned a 60.8 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2024, ranking sixth worst, and allowed the second-most pressures in the league (240). Combine that with Flacco’s 48.0 passer rating under pressure across the past two years, and it spells a potential disaster in Cleveland.”
Nobody expects Flacco to look like Lamar Jackson out there, but the one notable tidbit that Kosko pointed out is that Cleveland’s offensive line was brutal last year.
The Browns gave up 66 sacks last year, which certainly contributed to the fact that they started four different quarterbacks just a year after they started five different QBs.
On paper, as long as this unit is healthy, the Browns should be able to keep Flacco upright more often than any Browns quarterback was last season.
Flacco was sacked just eight times in five games with the Browns in 2023, so if he can get back to that level, this offense can be much better than it was last season.
NEXT: Hanford Dixon Calls Out Key Browns Unit Ahead Of Season
