Twitter trolls, allegedly Browns fans, are already plotting the demise of Dorian Thompson-Robinson even after the Browns beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is not easy. The Browns signed Joe Flacco to a contract, so some fans immediately started sharpening their hatchets, not for Thanksgiving Day turkeys, but for Thompson-Robinson. The trolls believe that Flacco will be Aaron Rodgers Light, with all the thrills and half the calories. Flacco will check down Stefanski’s stupid play calls and launch touchdown bomb after bomb! Can’t you just see it?

Consider, however, that since going 10-6 in 2014, Flacco has had only one season above .500 as a starter out of the next eight years. That was a 9-7 campaign in 2017. He had a herniated disk in his back in 2017, an inguinal hip sprain in 2018 and a cervical spine disc hernia in 2019 that put him on IR. The injury issues may have contributed to the decision to view him as a backup quarterback despite his success early in his career, culminating in a Super Bowl win in the 2012 season.

But can the six-foot-six Flacco run the same type of throw-on-the-run plays that Deshaun Watson, DTR and P.J. Walker can run? Well, no. Flacco is strictly a pocket passer, especially at age 38. Thus, if Flacco ever gets into a game, the Browns will have to run different plays for him. This is the reverse of the situation the Baltimore Ravens faced in 2018 when they drafted Lamar Jackson as a two-way threat to replace Flacco. They had a totally different offensive scheme for the two quarterbacks.

Flacco has not had time to work with the Browns receivers, has not had reps in training camp, never mind game reps, so it would take several games to get that ironed out.
He can probably still play as evidenced by his comeback win for the New York Jets in 2022, in which he came in for stumbling Zac Wilson threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, beating out Cleveland Browns. Being the Jets, they of course ran him out of town in favor of an extended audition for their Boy Wonder, Zac Wilson, a “Franchise Quarterback” if there ever was one. He’s young! He’s tall!  What more could you ever want?  Still, Flacco can still play quarterback and he knows how to win the Super Bowl. He will be looked up to in the locker room, and that cannot be taught by the coaches.

What the Elf was that?! Joe Flacco edition https://t.co/SevImsBcGW

— The Fanatical Elfz Network: A Browns Podcast (@ElfzNetwork) November 22, 2023

At the end of summer training camp, the Browns believed that they had three NFL quarterbacks in Deshaun Watson, Joshua Dobbs and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. They were less sure about the fourth quarterback, Kellen Mond. Like morons, they traded Dobbs away on the grounds that DTR was actually better and failed to retain Mond, nor did they hire his replacement until Watson proved to be injured. It was a strategic error to not have three QBs on the 53-player roster plus one more on the Practice Squad. They brought on P.J. Walker only when Deshaun Watson came up with a bum shoulder and could not throw. They did not add anyone to the Practice Squad even though there are 16 spots available.

But what if the coaching staff and front office was right that DTR is a viable NFL quarterback? Why blow up the offense and install a totally new offense for a fossilized 38-year-old quarterback who does not know the playbook? Oh that’s right, he is Aaron Rodgers Light. All the great taste and half the calories!

This is not fantasy football where you trade for a quarterback and he plays great immediately. Firing the second string quarterback after beating the Steelers is a stupid plan. No, Joe Flacco is a great addition, but let’s hope DTR stays healthy and that Flacco does not need to play.