Cleveland Browns: Best Player to Use No. 5 in Franchise History

Editor’s Note: The NFL Draft it’s over. No one is completely sure when training camp and the regular season will begin for the NFL. Therefore, we may be entering a period of silence in the NFL that is calmer than usual.

To help fill that gap, we are starting a series to determine the best player to wear each jersey number in Cleveland Browns history. Today we present the best player to wear uniform No. 5.

Uniform No. 5 hasn’t been very kind to any player unlucky enough to wear it while playing for the Cleveland Browns.

Easily the most successful player to use that number was quarterback Jeff Garcia, who signed with the Browns as a free agent prior to the 2004 season. Garcia had made three Pro Bowls in five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and seemed ready to go. at least solve Cleveland quarterback problems for a few seasons.

With the Browns, Garcia’s biggest highlight may have come in Week 1, as it led the Browns to a victory over the Baltimore Ravens, which remains the only season opener victory the Browns have achieved since their return in 1999.

It was essentially downhill from there and Garcia would eventually hurt his shoulder during a loss in November to the New York Jets. I’d just throw one more pass as a member of the Browns.

While Garcia won three Pro Bowl picks with the San Francisco 49ers before joining the Browns, and another Pro Bowl nod with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007, his time in Cleveland hardly qualifies for a better roster.

The same is true of quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who the Browns acquired through a trade with the Buffalo Bills prior to the 2018 season.

Taylor opened that season as a starter, leading the Browns to a season opener draw against the Pittsburgh Steelers and a close loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, before an injury sent him on the sidelines against the New York Jets in Week 3. That opened the door for quarterback Baker Mayfield to take over.

Taylor would only throw one more pass the rest of the season and move to the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency. The lasting memory of Taylor in the Cleveland uniform came during training camp when the HBO cameras Hard knocks He surprised him by explaining to head coach Hue Jackson why filming practice is important.

Like Garcia, it is difficult to defend Taylor.

What about shoemaker Zane González, who played for the Browns in 2017 and the first two games of 2018?

González struggled during his time with the Browns, converting just 68 percent of his field goals (although an undisclosed groin injury did not help his cause in 2018). González found his form last season with the Arizona Cardinals, where he made 88 percent of his field goals and only lost one extra point.

But then again, like Garcia and Taylor, Gonzalez’s best job was in another team’s uniform.

We’re starting to run out of viable options here, Browns fans.

Punter Spencer Lanning is the only player who managed to spend two full seasons with the Browns at No. 5, but he only appeared in one game after being released by the Browns after the 2014 season. Also, he’s most famous for being on the Catch receiving end of Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown during a punt return in 2014, which is not the way you want to be remembered.

Quarterback Ken Dorsey? Zero touchdowns and seven interceptions in 92 career pass attempts with the Browns would argue against his candidacy.

Punter Scott Player? He only appeared in three games for the Browns in 2007, and while it’s good that he was the last NFL player to wear a single-bar facemask, that’s not enough.

So where does that leave us in our search? For this one, we deliver it to you, the fanatic, to make the call!

Vote in the poll below and help us determine who will be immortalized as the best player to wear the # 5 uniform in franchise history.