Fantasy Index

Factoid

Josh McCown

Cleveland's new quarterback has been loose with the ball

Cleveland signed Josh McCown to a three-year deal worth $14 million. The assumption at this point is that he’ll be their starting quarterback. Whether he can play well enough to keep that job or win many games, well, we’ll see.

Throughout his career, McCown has been plagued by a tendency to the ball up for grabs. Only twice in his career has he finished a season with more touchdowns than interceptions. I’ll grant that McCown was outstanding two years ago in Chicago, with 11 TDs and only one interception in the five games he started. But everything around him was perfect that year. He was working with two big, talented receivers, and the offense was rolling.

He doesn’t have that in Cleveland.

McCown was a disaster in Tampa Bay, going 1-10 as a starter and turning the ball over 18 times – 14 interceptions and 10 fumbles (4 fumbles lost). On a per-play basis, he turned the ball over a lot more often than anybody else.

Good enws for this year is that the Browns have a much better offensive line than the Bucs. That will help him. But McCown’s well-documented track record is that he tends to try to force the ball into areas where it simply doesn’t fit.

Over the last 10 years, 55 quarterbacks have started at least 30 games. Only four of those guys have averaged more interceptions per game than McCown.

QUARTERBACKS: Interceptions Per Game
RkPlayerStYardsTDInt
1.Jeff Garcia351991.00.46
2.Colin Kaepernick392101.28.54
3.Russell Wilson482071.50.54
4.Aaron Rodgers1032742.18.54
5.Tom Brady1452712.03.63
6.Robert Griffin III362241.11.64
7.David Garrard732081.16.70
8.Alex Smith1051951.13.71
9.Donovan McNabb822481.41.73
10.Steve McNair36203.94.75
11.Jason Campbell792071.08.76
12.Sam Bradford492261.20.78
13.David Carr36159.78.78
14.Chad Pennington472031.04.79
15.Peyton Manning1442802.18.79
16.Joe Flacco1122281.32.80
17.Michael Vick742031.26.81
18.Trent Edwards33175.79.82
19.Kerry Collins502051.04.82
20.Matt Ryan1102561.65.83
21.Ben Roethlisberger1452511.61.83
22.Kyle Orton822161.22.83
23.Philip Rivers1442541.74.84
24.Marc Bulger602201.08.85
25.Matt Schaub892601.42.87
26.Tony Romo1232681.94.87
27.Cam Newton622331.32.87
28.Ryan Tannehill482341.31.88
29.Shaun Hill342171.32.88
30.Andrew Luck482701.79.90
31.Trent Green30219.97.90
32.Tarvaris Jackson34177.94.91
33.Matt Cassel712081.27.92
34.Vince Young50173.88.94
35.Christian Ponder361721.00.94
36.J.P. Losman33170.88.97
37.Matt Hasselbeck1002191.27.97
38.Drew Brees1592972.14.98
39.Jake Delhomme632051.171.00
40.Kurt Warner572681.681.02
41.Carson Palmer1302491.581.03
42.Andy Dalton642311.551.03
43.Derek Anderson451961.161.04
44.Jay Cutler1192331.541.09
45.Joey Harrington32192.911.09
46.Eli Manning1602421.581.10
47.Matthew Stafford772821.701.10
48.Ryan Fitzpatrick892081.301.11
49.Mark Sanchez702041.161.11
50.Josh Freeman602281.331.12
51.Josh McCown332111.301.12
52.Chad Henne53223.961.13
53.Brett Favre932381.421.18
54.Rex Grossman412141.241.29
55.Jon Kitna452491.291.31

—Ian Allan

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