Which Offensive Coordinator Candidate Makes The Most Sense For The Browns?

With Kellen Moore heading to the Eagles, the Browns have one less offensive coordinator candidate to consider, so who makes the most sense for Kevin Stefanski to add to his staff?

The Browns offensive coordinator search looms large leading into the week ahead, as head coach Kevin Stefanski looks to add a new perspective to his staff.

To this point, five known candidates have interviewed for the gig, with one now off the market in former Chargers OC Kellen Moore, who accepted the same role with the Eagles this weekend. That leaves a handful of others who are still in play for Cleveland, including some who haven't even interviewed for the job to this point but could be viable options. 

So who makes the most sense to fill the Browns void at offensive coordinator?

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Andy Dickerson

At this point Dickerson feels like a better candidate to fill a potential offensive line coach role if Bill Callahan were really to leave and join his son, who is the newly minted head coach of the Tennessee Titans. Dickerson has spent more than a decade working closely with offensive lines, including the last three as the top o-line coach with the Seahawks.

The problem is, Dickerson has never held play calling duties, and the closest he's ever come to overseeing part of a team's offensive game-plan was when he served as Seattle's run game coordinator in 2021. In fairness, the Seahawks were near the top of the league in yards per carry and yards per game that season. If the goal for Cleveland is to bring in some additional offensive perspective that can help get the most out of Deshaun Watson though, Dickerson doesn't seem to bring enough experience to the table. 

Brian Johnson

Johnson's first year as a play caller in Philadelphia didn't quite go as he or Eagles head coach Nick Siranni hoped. That unit, led by dual threat quarterback Jalen Hurts, regressed badly after making a Super Bowl run with Shane Steichen calling the shots on offense on year prior.

Johnson has a pretty hefty amount of play-calling experience from his time in the college ranks. He served as offensive coordinator at the University of Utah from 2012-2013, the University of Houston in 2017, then again at the University of Florida in 2020. In all three of those stints he also help the role of QB coach, which was his original job with Philly before his promotion in 2023.

His experience in both handling both responsibilities could be a little bit more of what Cleveland is looking for in its next OC, but the Eagles group taking a massive step backwards is too much to ignore.

Jerrod Johnson

The Texans quarterback coach is a hot commodity right now after the stellar rookie campaign of C.J. Stroud. Like Dickerson, Johnson would be a first time play-caller, which again may not be ideal for a team looking to win now with a quarterback that has a ton to prove yet.

That said, sometimes in football it pays off to be ahead of the curve in finding "the next big thing" if you will, and Johnson seems to be that in league circles. Even Watson's personal coach, Quincy Avery, gave him a public endorsement this week.

JJ gonna be a HC real soon. https://t.co/6NgGyMcWMS

— Quincy Avery (@QuincyAvery) January 21, 2024

The fact that Johnson has the QB coach experience is important here too. His work with Stroud this year could translate very well to Watson if he were to join the Browns staff.

Ken Dorsey

Bringing in Dorsey would make for a fun reunion for the Browns. Dorsey is just one of the many names on the back of that infamous storefront manikin featuring all the QBs to start for Cleveland since the team returned in 1999. He made three of them for the Browns between 2006-2008. 

15 years later, a return for Dorsey this time to be OC would come with plenty of experience as a play-caller. The biggest problem however, is that the

Bills

offense seemed to get better after he was canned in Week 11. His system seemed to lack a lot of creativity despite having the unicorn that is

Josh Allen

under center. Allen was turning the ball over more than usual under Dorsey as well and the run game took off once new OC

Joe Brady

took over. There were some problems that don't necessarily inspire confidence that Dorsey would help fix Watson, if you will.

Others?

The next few days will be interesting for Cleveland's search for a new OC. With Moore off the table we'll find out if they'll set up conversations with any additional candidates before making a final decision.

If they do, former Texans OC Tim Kelly should be near the top of the list. Kelly was offensive coordinator under Bill O'Brien from 2019-2021, which just so happen to be the last time Watson looked like a top 10 quarterback in the league. In 2019, the 28-year-old threw for 3852 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while rushing for 413 yards and seven addition touchdowns. He followed that up by leading the league in passing with 4,823 yards and a career best 33 touchdowns, with 444 yards and three touchdowns on the ground one season later. Most recently, Kelly was serving as the offensive coordinator in Tennessee under Mike Vrabel, so he's totally available for hire.

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Another interesting name to keep an eye on is 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak. First of all, he's got ties to Stefanski as he served as the Vikings QB coach in 2019 before Stefanski took over his post in Cleveland. His father, Gary Kubiak, also happened to be at the forefront of making the west coast offense that Stefanski and others run, what it is today. There's also the fact that he's coming from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree and poaching Shanahan's assistants is all the rage these days.