RG3 is back. Will he make a difference?

After 12 weeks on the sideline recuperating a broken bone in his shoulder, Robert Griffin III is back for the Cleveland Browns. Can the embattled former Pro Bowler lead his new franchise to its first win of the 2016 season?

Cleveland has poured through five other quarterbacks since Griffin’s injury, primarily relying on journeyman Josh McCown and rookie Cody Kessler to lose games for the the NFL’s most hopeless franchise. The former Washington standout lies somewhere between the two. He’ll hope to reclaim the magic that made him the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year to help his new team escape the ignominy of an 0-16 campaign.

The Browns host 4-7-1 Cincinnati on Sunday. Here’s what you can expect from RG3’s return to the lineup.

The first big change Griffin brings to any offense is his mobility, even if he isn’t the elusive runner he was in his prime. However, we don’t have a ton of recent data to analyze when it comes to on-field action. Washington all but sealed the quarterback in bubble wrap last fall to avoid paying him $15 million in 2016. He’s only got four quarters of play under his belt but ran for more yards per attempt (7.4) than he threw for (7.3).

However, that only came on five carries. The fifth ended with Griffin taking a shot and breaking his shoulder.

Griffin wasn’t particularly effective as a passer that day, though he showed a solid downfield rapport with leading wideout Terrelle Pryor (three receptions, 68 yards). He completed only 12 of his 26 passes and was sacked three times.

Here’s how his numbers — for 2016 and his career — stack up against the team’s other two primary starters, McCown and Kessler.

Griffin is an upgrade over McCown, because almost anything would be better than the quarterback with more than twice as many turnovers as touchdown passes this fall. But a career-average Griffin may not add more to this offense than Kessler, who is more accurate and less turnover prone — though not the same explosive playmaker RG3 can be.

It’s difficult to address Cleveland’s run/pass balance since this team is often losing and thus more reliant on a clock-stopping passing game than a grinding rushing attack. In his one game at the helm, Griffin dropped back to pass 34 times (26 attempts, five runs, three sacks). The Browns’ tailbacks ran the ball 16 times, leaving the team’s passing play percentage at a tidy 68 percent.

Since losing Griffin, the team’s quarterbacks have dropped back in the pocket 490 times (counting sacks and scrambles). Cleveland’s backs have carried the ball 212 times, dialing the likelihood of a pass play up to 69.8 percent — the highest mark in the league. The dynamic quarterback’s presence could chip away at that ratio on Sunday, but those plans fly out the window if the Browns wind up trailing early.

If Cleveland remains pass happy, the biggest beneficiaries will be wideouts Pryor and Corey Coleman. Griffin maintained a blistering 15.8 yards per completion average in his sole appearance with the Browns thanks to his dynamic deep threats along the sideline. Pryor and Coleman caught passes of 44 and 58 yards in the team’s two scoring drives and made up 54 percent of their quarterback’s total passing output in Week 1.

The biggest issue with Griffin is whether he hits a wall as defenses adjust to his style of play. RG3 had the Browns step for step with the Eagles early in the third quarter, and then this happened:

Eight net yards spread over five drives. 0.53 yards per play. That is gruesome football.

Does anybody?

That’s not an indictment on the quarterback himself. This Browns team is a) tremendously young and b) terrible at defense. Cleveland has given up at least 24 points in every game it’s played this fall. The team has scored 25 points or more just twice.

Kessler turned in the team’s strongest performance of the season in an Oct. 16 game against Tennessee, but his 336-yard, two-touchdown day was all for naught. The Browns’ defense turned Marcus Mariota into peak Tom Brady and allowed him to sling three touchdowns and gain nearly 12 yards each time he dropped back to pass. If Griffin exceeds expectations on Sunday, his effort may be similarly meaningless.

The Bengals have only broken the 25-point barrier three times this season, but one of those outbursts came in a 31-17 win over Cleveland. Home-field advantage could help the Browns slow Andy Dalton down, but recent history doesn’t reflect kindly on their chances.

The Browns have Griffin on the hook for one more season after this. His role in this offense’s future is no more defined for next year than it is for next week.

While he can add value as an experienced backup for a player like Kessler, a two-year, $15 million deal is an expensive bet to handle a role for which McCown is already signed (and at nearly half the cap hit). He’d only count $1.75m against the salary cap if released, and it’s not unfair to think Cleveland could jettison him if they think Kessler is ready for the spotlight.

But there’s still a lot Griffin can bring to the table. Through good and bad he remains the kind of playmaker the Browns simply don’t have on their roster. If he can build a relationship with the team’s talented, but still developing, receivers and make the most of a limited toolbox, he can prove he’s still a starting-caliber quarterback. That all relies on the final four weeks of 2016.