Does Jacoby Brissett Deserve To Be A Starter In 2023?

Deshaun Watson has served his 11-game suspension, and he will finally make his debut with the Cleveland Browns on Sunday when they visit, ironically enough, the Houston Texans, his old team.

During that suspension, Jacoby Brissett filled in under center, and overall, he didn’t do too badly.

His stats won’t impress anyone, but his 2,608 passing yards, 12 touchdown passes and 89.1 passer rating in those 11 contests were enough for the Browns to be competitive at least some of the time.

Brissett will now serve as Watson’s backup for the rest of this season, and afterward, he will become a free agent.

Does he have a future as a starter for some team, or is he nothing more than a solid backup?

Brissett Did OK In Place Of Watson, But Has He Proven He Can Be A Starter?

One reason Brissett’s time as Cleveland’s QB1 was passable was the fact that head coach Kevin Stefanski loves to run the football and that he has the personnel to do so.

Nick Chubb is arguably the game’s best and most productive running back, and he has a solid tag-team partner in the backfield in Kareem Hunt.

But very few teams have that type of running attack, and besides, the modern NFL is all about airing it out and letting the ball fly downfield as much as reasonably possible.

Brissett simply isn’t the type of signal-caller who is well-suited to that style of offense, as he has never been that accurate on deep pass attempts.

Per @NextGenStats, here’s how #Colts Jacoby Brissett fared throwing to different zones:

• At/Behind LOS = 90.8 COMP%
• Short 1-10 yards = 71.4 COMP%
• Intermediate 11-19 yards = 44.8 COMP%
• 20+ yards = 30.0 COMP%

Can’t win completing under 40% on intermediate/deep throws. pic.twitter.com/o7IenB1z7W

— Locked On Colts Podcast (@LockedOnColts) February 20, 2020

Jacoby Brissett Completion Percentages via PlayerProfiler

PA Comp – 42.9%
Red Zone Comp – 40%
Deep Ball Comp – 14.3%
Pressured Comp – 45%
Clean Pocket Comp – 68.1% (26th)
True Comp – 67.5% (29th) pic.twitter.com/Wcx5BBPFj2

— Brennan Emenhiser (@Phindiana13) October 4, 2021

In 48 career starts, Brissett has a record of just 18-30, which just won’t cut it.

It’s hard to imagine any NFL team offering Brissett a starting job this spring or summer, unless they’re truly desperate, but the 29-year-old should have at least a few years left as a reliable second-string QB.