Austin Davis' Performance Means Browns' QB Depth Chart in Good Shape

It was a heartbreaking, last-second loss for the Cleveland Browns in Week 12's Monday Night Football meeting with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Browns, gifted with a second interception of Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub, got far enough down the field to attempt a 51-yard field goal that would have won the game, had it not been blocked and then returned for a touchdown by Ravens safety Will Hill. The 33-27 defeat now puts the Browns at 2-9 on the season.

But one thing was made quite clear in the loss—whatever the Browns lack in talent on the roster, it's not in the quarterback room. 

Josh McCown returned to the starting lineup on Monday night, ostensibly healed enough from shoulder and rib ailments that had sidelined him for the previous two games. He, of course, was reestablished as the Browns' starter after Johnny Manziel's bye-week breach of his coaches' and teammates' trust saw him drop from No. 1 to No. 3 on the depth chart.

Austin Davis, signed by the Browns in early September and later that month given a two-year, $3.69 million extension, was set to serve as McCown's backup, even with Manziel dressed for action if needed.

Manziel wasn't needed. But Davis was, after McCown suffered a collarbone injury late in the third quarter. He tried to throw in the fourth but couldn't, and Davis was called into action. And he did a good job, even if not everything went as smoothly as it could have.

Davis completed seven of his 10 pass attempts, for 77 yards and a 42-yard touchdown pass to receiver Travis Benjamin. He took one sack and did just enough to get the Browns into field-goal range at the end of the game.

Granted, that drive, which followed Schaub's second pick and led to the blocked field goal, included Davis sliding on a first-down-gaining run while still in bounds, keeping the clock moving. But for a not-quite-prepared quarterback being put in the game due to injury, he certainly showed promise.

Davis has been a coveted name by the Browns' coaching staff for some time, with Pettine saying when they brought him in, "Austin [Davis] is a guy—his name has come up often. ... The opportunity presented itself to bring him here, so we took advantage of it."

	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	YPA	TD	INT	Sacks
2014	284	180	63.4	2,001	7.0	12	9	29
2015	10	7	70.0	77	7.7	1	0	1

That opportunity came when the St. Louis Rams released Davis. In 2014, Davis appeared in 10 games with eight starts in relief of the injured Sam Bradford. He completed 180 of his 284 pass attempts, for 2,001 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions while taking 29 sacks. It was Davis' first regular-season action of his career.

But even that small sample size was enough to draw Cleveland's interest. And more than that, once the Browns snagged him, they wanted to keep him around. Pettine explained the contract extension by saying, "[Davis is] a player that we like his skill set, we like his mentality, we like his competitiveness, how he approaches football and felt it would be a win for us to get him signed to a longer-term contract."

Monday night showed that Davis is certainly a capable quarterback. And with McCown injured yet again, Davis will provide much-needed insurance at the position regardless of what the Browns decide to do with Manziel's depth-chart standing (which is to-be-determined, via 92.3 The Fan's Daryl Ruiter ).

In Week 10, Manziel threw for 372 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers. McCown had a passer rating of 95.2 headed into Week 12 and 80.2 prior to his Monday night injury.

And now Davis has shown he can seamlessly fit into Cleveland's offensive philosophy. What was once a Cleveland weakness—quarterback—is slowly becoming a position of strength. While none of the three are Aaron Rodgers-level elite, they don't need to be. They just need to effectively run John DeFilippo's offense, and they appear to be able to do so.

Monday night's loss means the Browns remain on the path to score a high pick in the 2016 NFL draft. But, with McCown, Manziel and now Davis, it doesn't seem so pressing that they must use it on yet another quarterback. For all that the Browns lack, quarterback is no longer their biggest void.