Mercifully Football Is Over, Now The Changes Begin For Browns

The NFL seemed to be merciful in ending the Cleveland Browns’ season before any other team’s this season.

A year after a playoff year, finishing 11-6, the Browns went 3-14 following a 35-10 defeat at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.

The ownership has said time and again GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski will be back next season, but we would guess we would see news about any changes to the coaching staff or in the front office this week.

We are going to go against the norm and say this should not be the start of a long rebuilding process. There is talent on the roster, particularly probably the best defensive player in the game in DE Myles Garrett and a Pro Bowl shutdown corner in Denzel Ward.

And sorry everyone, Garrett should not be traded for a bunch of draft choices who will never be as good as he is. He is only 29 years old and has plenty of great seasons to come. Give him a new contract and 3-4 years from now, if things still look bleak and the future Hall of Famer wants to go to a winner, the Browns can do right by him and trade or release him.

There is an entire cottage industry of chronicling the misfortunes of the Browns over the last decade. (Did you know Bailey Zappe was the 40th starting QB since 1999?).

Some of it is deserved. If we were in the front office, we would put a muzzle on certain members of the coaching staff and some executives. Why would people leak word of Deshaun Watson competing for the starting QB job next summer or have Ken Dorsey say Dorian Thompson-Robinson has potential?

Dorsey was let go by the organization pretty much immediately after the season ending loss, along with offensive line coach Andy Dickerson.

What’s the comment about being silent and having people think you are stupid?

Cleveland must get better quarterback play. That is first and foremost. And any talk of bringing Watson back is dumb. He has played 19 games with the Browns and has played probably less than 10 decent quarters. At this point, thinking a change in offensive strategy or coordinator will make him regain the skills he had prior to the trade is lunacy.

If they like one of the passers coming into the league via the draft, they should draft one, but they should not feel the need to force-feed that player onto the field.

They also need to get better at running back. We would love to see Nick Chubb back, but they need to find a younger version of the back who wears #24.

And they need an offensive coordinator who understands the importance of running the ball and is willing to make a commitment to doing it.

The defense isn’t bad. True, they played much better a year ago, but they allowed the least first downs in the league. Even yesterday, until the fourth quarter, they kept Cleveland in the game. Remember, the first Baltimore TD was an interception return, a too common sight in 2024.

On that side of the ball, some younger players stood out. DT Mike Hall, injured in the finale, looks like he can play. Second year DE Isaiah McGuire looks like a player, so does LB Mohamoud Diabate, CB Cam Mitchell, and don’t forget DE Alex Wright, who was injured after week four.

Offensively, we would be remiss in not mentioning WR Jerry Jeudy, who also made the Pro Bowl catching 90 passes this season, amazing since he played with one professional passer.

The worrisome part of this is the first thing that needs to be done is recognizing who can play and who can’t. The talent evaluators thought DTR was better than Tyler Huntley. They started DTR in two games when based on yesterday, Bailey Zappe is better.

And we have our weekly mention of trading a second-round pick for WR Elijah Moore.

They have to correctly evaluate what changes need to be made. If they are honest with themselves, we think they can win. Next season.

This QB Looked A Lot Like The One Who Started The Year For Browns

The ugly season authored by the Cleveland Browns continued on Sunday with another abysmal offensive performance in a 24-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Queen City dropping their record to 3-12.

It was the 10th time this season the Browns failed to gain 300 yards of total offense. Of the five games they exceeded that total, Jameis Winston was at the controls in four of them.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson was the starting quarterback and frankly, the offense looked a lot like it did in the first seven games with Deshaun Watson at the helm. He was skittish in the pocket, looked to escape very early, not giving receivers a chance, and of course, running himself into sacks.

The game started promising for the Browns as Jerome Ford ripped off a 66-yard run on the game’s very first play. But true to the Ken Dorsey offense, Ford carried just nine more times on the day, gaining 92 yards on the ground as Cleveland felt the need to have a very inexperienced QB throw 34 passes.

The Browns rank 28th in rushing attempts and 27th in yardage this season, which is by far the worst ranking for any offense coordinated or guided as a head coach by Kevin Stefanski.

Until last year, his teams were always in the top ten in rushing, and last season finished 12th and that was with Nick Chubb being injured in the second game of the year.

And when you think about it, the identity of the Cleveland Browns is the running game, tough, physical football. The greatest running back in the history of the game, Jim Brown, played here.

So did Marion Motley, Leroy Kelly, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner both gained 1000 yards in the same season, and of course, Chubb has been one of the best runners of the last 10-15 years of NFL football.

It’s in the DNA to run the ball in Cleveland, and currently the Browns have an offensive coordinator who doesn’t like to run the ball.

Apparently, Stefanski’s success of running the football and using the play action pass didn’t figure into the decision in choosing the offensive coordinator because their ideas on offense seem to be at odds with each other.

To us, the first step to making this football team respectable when it has the football is to go back to the identity of the franchise and what the head coach clearly likes to do, and that is establish a solid running attack.

Back to Sunday’s loss. After that opening run by Ford, the Browns got no points because D’Onta Foreman fumbled on the one-yard line, presumably his last carry as a member of the brown and orange.

Cleveland’s biggest weapon of late, WR Jerry Jeudy was made useless by the switch in quarterbacks from Winston to Thompson-Robinson, who mostly dinked and dunked with short passes to Ford and David Njoku.

The turnover issues didn’t end with Winston’s benching as DTR threw two, and his career ratio now stands at one touchdown and nine picks in 180 attempts. We think we can all see he is not a legitimate starter in the NFL.

Congratulations to Myles Garrett on getting his 100th sack of his illustrious career. The front office has work to do in rebuilding this roster quick so Garrett will want to remain a Brown.

And of course, Dustin Hopkins missed an extra point, his only kick of the day. His confidence is clearly shaken, and he should not be kicking any more this year.

Not that these last two games really matter. It will be interesting to see at what point Stefanski pulls the plug on the DTR experience and goes to Bailey Zappe.

Merry Christmas! The Browns don’t play until Sunday!

2024 Has Been A Year Of Mistakes For The Browns

The Cleveland Browns seemed poised to at least tie up their game against Philadelphia in the fourth quarter, trailing 20-13 and having a first down and goal at the Eagles’ 8 with four and a half minutes left.

But then the mistakes occurred. A false start on rookie Zak Zinter on 3rd and goal from the three moved Cleveland back. Then as the Browns were going for it on fourth down, Jedrick Wills jumped and push the team back to the 13-yard line.

From there, Kevin Stefanski thought it was too risky to have a fourth and goal from over 10 yards and kicked a field goal, hoping the defense could get the ball back one last time.

It was just another couple of mistakes in not only a season plagued with errors, but an entire off-season of decisions being made that have backfired on the organization.

In their playoff season a year ago when they went 11-6, the Browns ranked 10th in the NFL in offense. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the brass, and they replaced Alex Van Pelt, who had been the offensive coordinator since Stefanski was hired, with Ken Dorsey, who worked with “dual threat” quarterbacks at Carolina and Buffalo.

Offensive line coach (and guru) Bill Callahan left because his son Brian was named head coach with the Titans, and the Browns went outside the organization to hire Andy Dickerson, who they interviewed for the OC job.

Why they didn’t go with Scott Peters, Callahan’s assistant is a question that should be answered by the front office. In the name of continuity, it might have been the wiser choice.

They also dismissed long time running backs coach Stump Mitchell and brought in Duce Staley.

The point is there were a lot of changes on the offensive coaching staff considering the offense performed pretty well last season, especially when you factor in the number of different starting quarterbacks the team played.

After Joe Flacco’s very good play down the stretch last season, the Browns could have brought him back to be the backup quarterback, but they feared the fans’ reaction if Deshaun Watson didn’t play well, so they passed on him.

He went to Indianapolis where he has a 102.2 passer rating with seven touchdown throws and just one interception in three games. For a frame of reference, Watson has five TD passes in six contests.

All of these changes were made with the idea of getting Watson to perform as he did when he was with Houston, in 2020. Instead, he is playing worse than he has ever played.

During his partial seasons with the Browns, 2022 due to suspension and 2023 because of injury he wasn’t this bad. In six starts this season, the quarterback has yet to throw for 200 yards in a game.

Even worse, he’s now started 18 games in a Cleveland uniform and has yet to throw for 300 yards. As a frame of reference, Flacco had four such games in the five he started for the Browns last season.

It’s been a year filled with mistakes starting with the front office trying to fix something that didn’t need to be fixed. It’s continued on to the playing field where penalties, dropped passes, and coverage breakdowns are causing the Browns to lose every week.

The players need to play better. The front office needs to admit their mistakes as well.

Browns’ Season In Ruins? All Signs Point to Yes

It is hard to believe that just nine short months ago, the Cleveland Browns were getting ready to take on the Houston Texans in the playoffs and hopes were high after they won four of their last five regular season games, scoring over 30 points in three of those wins.

We bring that up because we highly doubt the man who coached that team, Kevin Stefanski suddenly lost the skill to lead this team during the summer.

On the other hand, we asked this question all summer long. This Browns’ team to win now, and what would happen if the team got off to a poor start. Would the organization have the stomach to replace Deshaun Watson if he were not playing well?

Well, that time has arrived and at least after the game, Stefanski said he would continue with Watson at quarterback. He is staying with him despite him not throwing for over 200 yards in any of the five games Cleveland has played this season.

Several members of the media, both local and national, have wondered if Stefanski even has the authority to make the change, considering the amount of draft capital and money the franchise has invested in Watson.

If that’s the case, it should tip everyone off as to why this franchise has trouble winning consistently. Presumably, Stefanski, GM Andrew Berry, and the rest of the front office, save for the “strategy department” were hired because of their football acumen, yet their ability to make decisions is compromised.

It seems that the focus of the franchise has shifted from a year ago. Last year, it was about winning, making the playoffs. Over the off-season, it shifted to making a player happy and justifying a bad trade.

That’s the only reason for firing Alex Van Pelt as offensive coordinator and bringing in Ken Dorsey. By the way, could the latter be the first OC to be fired in mid-season two years in a row?

That’s not to hold the coaching staff blameless. The number of stupid penalties grows every week. We don’t believe they are coaching players to commit errors, but maybe there needs to be more accountability.

Sunday was no different. Mike Ford was flagged for running into the return man fielding a punt when he clearly signaled for a fair catch. There were multiple occurrences of having 12 men on the field, causing either a penalty or Stefanski having to take a timeout.

When you are losing, those mistakes are glaring.

Washington came into the game with one of the worst defenses against the pass in the league. The Browns threw for 108 yards. The Cleveland defense allowed 215 yards on the ground, another recipe for defeat in the NFL.

The defense started very well, getting an interception on the goal line by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and confusing rookie QB Jayden Daniels, who came into the game completing 82% of his throws.

He hit on only 56% Sunday, but had completions of 66, 41, and 33 yards, and the Commanders had runs of 50, 34, and 28 yards. There were big plays all over the place.

And really, the game turned on the 33-yard run by Daniels on 4th and 3 with the score 10-3 and a little over three minutes left in the first half.

The road show continues next week in Philadelphia, but if there anyone left in the fan base or worse on the coaching staff that the Browns can generate any offense with Watson playing quarterback?

Trying to bring out the best in him when it wasn’t there to begin with seems to have derailed a season that should have been ending in a playoff berth.

A Browns’ Functional Offense Can Win Games

When the Cleveland Browns were in negotiations to trade for Deshaun Watson, it was reported that the quarterback’s interactions with head coach Kevin Stefanski went amazingly well.

The two talked football, x’s and o’s, and Stefanski showed him ideas and the concepts of what he would like to do, and Watson appeared to be in agreement that it would be a beneficial relationship for both of them.

There is no doubt in our mind that Stefanski was excited. That’s how coaches are. Without any negative baggage people are aware of, coaches think they can get the best out of any player, that’s how they are wired.

Stefanski has had success running offenses as a coach in Minnesota and Cleveland, and we are sure he felt what he liked to do would mesh well with a passer who had several big seasons and a couple of playoff appearances in Houston.

And we are sure Watson was equally excited to have a coach whose offenses have had plenty of success in the NFL.

But offenses have changed in the NFL since 2018-2020, Watson’s heyday in Houston. The Kansas City Chiefs, who have won three Super Bowls since that period, do not run the same attack as they did in Patrick Mahomes’ first year as a starter.

So, hoping the Watson who played for the Texans is magically going to return wearing a Browns’ uniform is probably a wish that isn’t going to come true.

Meanwhile, while Watson was out due to suspension and injury over the last two years, the Browns’ offense has performed pretty well, ranking in the middle of the pack in ’22 (18th) and landing in the top ten (10th) last season.

Stefanski likes to run the football and throw off of play action. That usually means the QB has to play under center. Watson prefers to be in the shotgun. Stefanski likes to be ahead of the chains, usually going with a short pass on first down to gain five yards or so, and then be able to run the ball on 2nd and possible 3rd down.

Watson likes to take shots down the field, usually after he buys time in the backfield by using his legs. He also takes a lot of sacks, leading the league in 2018 and was sacked over 40 times in both ’19 and ’20.

That puts his team in obvious pass situations. Stefanski doesn’t like those situations.

The point is in spite of both people’s intentions, what they both like to do is in direct contrast with each other.

After last season, the organization decided to bring in a new offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey, who has experience with mobile QBs, but physically, Cam Newton and Josh Allen, the players Dorsey worked with, are much bigger and would seem to be able to take more hits because of that size.

With the injuries on the offensive line, it would seem the best offense for the Browns to win with would be to run the Stefanski attack, keep the QB out of bad down and distance situations and running the football and take downfield shots with play action.

Can Watson run that offense effectively and better yet, can he be fulfilled running the attack in that fashion?

We think the Browns can have success if the offense plays at a league average level. The defense is that strong. Winning is the object of the sport, no one should forget that.

Regarding The Browns’ Offense…

In the off-season, the Cleveland Browns replaced offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Ken Dorsey, and the reason given for the move was Dorsey was more familiar working with dual threat quarterback, having worked with Josh Allen in Buffalo and Cam Newton in Carolina.

It was part of the Browns’ quest to “unlock” Deshaun Watson and have him return to the guy who had passer ratings over 100 in Houston from 2017 to 2020.

Since he joined the Browns, Watson’s highest rating was the 84.3 he achieved last season, in which he played just six games. This year, after two contests, his rating is just 63.0.

Kevin Stefanski and Van Pelt ran a good offense as well. In terms of yardage, the Vikings’ offense in Stefanski’s year as offensive coordinator ranked 16th in yards gained, and with the Browns, the attack was solid, with ranks ranging from 14th to 16th.

Dorsey’s offenses in Buffalo were 2nd and 4th in his two years as OC, but remember, he was let go last season during the year.

Both like to run the football. Stefanski had Dalvin Cook in Minnesota and then Nick Chubb in Cleveland, and until 2023, those teams were in the top ten in the league in running the ball.

So were Dorsey’s attacks in his two years in Buffalo.

The biggest difference we think is who does the running in each offense. Dorsey had quarterbacks who ran for over 700 yards three times in the ten seasons he has been quarterback coach or offensive coordinator. The QBs ran for more than 500 yards in two more years.

Watson ran for more than 400 yards in three of his four seasons in Houston. But he is really the first dual threat passer that Stefanski has handled.

The quarterbacks Stefanski had in Minnesota and Cleveland have all done well. Here are their passer ratings (although that stat just measures passing efficiency):

2017 Minnesota QB coach: Case Keenum 98.3
2018 Minnesota QB coach: Kirk Cousins 99.7
2019 Minnesota offensive coordinator: Cousins 107.4
2020 Browns Head Coach: Baker Mayfield 95.9
2021 Browns Head Coach: Mayfield (83.1), Keenum (91.3)
2022 Browns Head Coach: Jacoby Brissett (88.9), Watson (79.1)
2023 Browns Head Coach: Joe Flacco (90.2), Watson (84.3)

For Cousins, the ’19 season was his best as a pro, as was the case for Mayfield’s 2020 campaign, Brissett’s ’22 year, and for Keenum as well in ’17. For Flacco, it was his best season since 2014 with the Ravens.

Only Watson hasn’t thrived under Kevin Stefanski. Stefanski likes to work in a lot of play action, and Watson’s best (and longest) completion on Sunday was off a fake and resulted in a 30-yard pass to Jerry Jeudy.

Perhaps that’s what the basis of the offense should be right now. By all measures, the vertical passing game is disappearing in the NFL as defenses have adjusted.

We also think the coaching staff and front office would like Watson to cut down on running the ball himself unless absolutely necessary. Heck, in QB sneak situations, Cleveland put Jameis Winston in to take the snaps.

The point is this–Charles Barkley once said, “if it’s not broke, don’t break it”. Maybe that’s what the Cleveland Browns did with their offense. It’s something to keep an eye on week to week.

Browns Use Old Offense To Beat Jags.

Last week, we said it was just one game in referring to the Cleveland Browns’ loss to Dallas in the season opener.

This week, we will reach into the cliche bag and tell everyone a win is a win. The Browns played a very good first half of football and held on to beat Jacksonville 18-13 to raise their record to 1-1.

After hiring a new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey, who was bringing in an attack more friendly to a dual threat quarterback, the Cleveland offense looked much like the same as it had the previous years under Alex Van Pelt.

The brown and orange came out trying to work the running game. After having just 19 running plays vs. Dallas, and some of those were Deshaun Watson scrambles after escaping the pass rush, they ran the ball 29 times for 125 yards.

D’Onta Foreman started and had the most carries, toting the ball 14 times for 42 yards, and had a huge run in the fourth quarter that unfortunately was called back when he grabbed a defender’s face mask. Jerome Ford looked much better than he did in week one to us and seemed to run harder hitting the holes.

He had 64 yards on seven carries, including a big 36-yard on a fourth down play.

The offense looked a lot like the same kind of system used when Jacoby Brissett was behind center. It appeared the coaching staff told Watson to take care of the football, and indeed Cleveland did not turn it over all day.

There weren’t a lot of high-risk throws. Perhaps the one play that stands out was Watson at the end of a scramble throwing the football into a crowd and somehow Jerry Jeudy came down with it on the sidelines.

Watson would up 22 of 34 for 186 yards and ran the ball five times for 20 yards. It was interesting to see Stefanski use Jameis Winston, a bigger QB, in some short yardage situations for quarterback sneaks.

The defense allowed two big plays, the 66-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence to Brian Thomas and Lawrence’s 33-yard run, otherwise, the Jaguars were bottled up all game. The Browns sacked Lawrence four times, including a safety on Alex Wright’s sack, which should have salted away the game.

Ultimately, that sack followed the play of the game, the punt by Corey Bojorquez which went out of bounds on the one-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Stefanski decided to punt rather than have Dustin Hopkins try a 58-yard field goal, and that was the correct decision.

Speaking of Stefanski’s decisions, we also believe the last offensive play was not supposed to end in a pass, he wanted Watson to roll out, gain as many yards as he could, and then go down and keep the clock running.

We are sure some will focus on the penalties, which Cleveland accumulated 13 flags during the game. It needs to be cleaned up, but there seems to be another “point of emphasis” with officials to call motion penalties. And according to people who know football better than us, a few flags against the Browns were not merited.

But again, a win is a win, and the Browns should be expected to win next Sunday at home against the 0-2 Giants. It will be interesting to see what the offense looks like. Will it be run oriented at the start or throwing a lot.

Either way, Cleveland got a win they needed after a terrible first game showing. And that’s a good thing.

Three People To Watch For Browns Not Named Deshaun Watson

With the Cleveland Browns’ season starting today, it is clear that the player with the most pressure on him coming into the season is QB Deshaun Watson. The Browns paid a hefty price for the quarterback, giving up three first round draft picks and paying him a ton of guaranteed cash, and have received little return on their investment.

However, there are others under the microscope for us as the 2024 season kicks off today.

Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Let’s face it, the Browns’ offense hasn’t exactly been broken over the last four seasons with Kevin Stefanski and Alex Van Pelt running it. Since Stefanski became head coach, Cleveland has ranked between 14th and 18th in yards gained, right in the middle of the pack.

Dorsey’s offense in Buffalo, where he was offensive coordinator in 2022 ranked 2nd in yardage, but he was let go during the season last year.

He did have Josh Allen, one of the better QBs in the NFL guiding his attack. He comes to town with a reputation for getting the most out of “dual threat” quarterbacks, having worked with Allen and Cam Newton during his time in Carolina.

His job here is to get the most out of Watson, get him back to the player he was in Houston. However, let’s not forget the Browns’ offense hummed under Joe Flacco late last season and Stefanski has gotten the best out of pretty much every quarterback he has worked with. Except one.

Offensive line coach Andy Dickerson. He’s replacing a legend in Bill Callahan, recognized as one of the best line coaches in the business. Callahan left to coach with his son Brian in Tennessee, and the Browns made the right decision in allowing that to happen.

If the offensive line has issues this year, no doubt Dickerson will be under scrutiny because he’s not Callahan. The interior of this unit is solid with guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, and center Ethan Pocic.

Right now, the tackle spots are up in the air, but that’s due to injury and not the coaching. As we write this, we don’t know who will start at left tackle.

Much of the Browns’ success under Stefanski has been the ability to run the football, much of that due to Nick Chubb of course, but also Bill Callahan. Can Dickerson maintain that level of excellence, especially has injuries occur?

And that brings us to…

Running back Jerome Ford. The third-year back got his first extended action last season when Chubb went down and averaged a little less than four yards per carry. Chubb, of course, is one of the best in league history, averaging 5.3 yards per carry for his career.

However, remember D’Ernest Johnson? He got 100 carries in 2021 for Cleveland and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Last year, Pierre Strong picked up 4.6 yards per attempt.

If the Browns are going to run the ball effectively, and yes, they will need to, Ford has to do better than four yards per attempt.

For us, he seems to hesitate when he approaches the line at times instead of putting his head down and getting two yards, he looks for the big gain and loses yardage.

Perhaps that comes with experience, and we will see that in ’24. But no doubt, the Browns need the running game, especially if they have leads going into the fourth quarter.

Should Watson Play Saturday? We Say Yes.

Earlier before the Browns’ training camp opened, we expressed the opinion that now that the team is good, our interest in training camp and pre-season football just isn’t there.

But Cleveland being Cleveland, there is always something to talk about with the NFL team here. And the current subject is should Deshaun Watson play in the final exhibition game Saturday night against Seattle?

The reason for the rebate is all of the injuries the team has suffered on the offensive line, mostly at the two tackle spots.

Going into camp, the starting tackles were projected to be Jedrick Wills on the left side and Jack Conklin on the right side. Both are coming off injuries that required surgery, and because of them, Dawand Jones started nine games in his rookie year, so Cleveland had some built-in depth at the position.

We are sure the Browns thought Wills would be ready by the last pre-season game, while they are hoping Conklin is ready for the season opener. Even if he isn’t, Jones can start at right tackle, and the offense shouldn’t miss a beat.

Back to Watson. As we all know, the quarterback has played just 12 regular season games over the last three seasons, so without a doubt, he needs to play. Frankly, we would have played him in the opener as well, at least for a series or two.

But football guys being football guys, there is the constant fear of injuries, so the question many in the media and fans alike ask is what if Watson gets hurt because the starting tackles aren’t playing.

Our response would be neither Wills or Conklin have taken a snap in the pre-season, and what if they aren’t ready for week one against Dallas? We all know they aren’t holding Watson out of that game.

We will count on Kevin Stefanski and Ken Dorsey to keep Watson out of harm’s way against the Seahawks, because for the greater good, Watson needs to take some live snaps before the Cowboys visit on September 8th.

We will again reiterate the key to this Browns’ season is the play of Deshaun Watson. If he plays close to the way he played in Houston, the team is a Super Bowl contender. That’s why they traded for him, to have that franchise quarterback. And in his third season in Cleveland, it’s time to see that player.

The old saying that “availability is an ability” certainly applies to Watson. Since, he’s been with the Browns, he missed 11 games in his first season due to suspension, and last year, he suffered the shoulder injury which required surgery.

And in his last season with Houston, where he missed the entire season due to legal issues, and Watson hasn’t played much football over the last three seasons.

He needs to play.

We don’t know what Stefanski will do Saturday night, but we would have Watson out there for the first quarter, and maybe into the second before going to Jameis Winston.

Offensive line issues or not, the quarterback needs to be on the field.

With Watson, We Have To See It To Believe It.

Since we live in northeast Ohio and football is discussed all year round, the talk about Deshaun Watson is relentless. So, we guess we will dive into the conversation about the Browns’ quarterback too.

We will start by not understanding how anyone can have confidence that Watson will be one of the best signal callers in the NFL. We do agree that at one point in his career, Watson was a top five QB in the league, but we are getting farther and farther away from that occurance.

We understand passer rating is not the true measure of quarterback play, but with Houston, Watson had a 104.5 rating and in his dozen games with the Browns, that mark has dipped to 81.7.

Every metric has decreased significantly from his time with the Texans–

Houston Cleveland
Completion % 67.8 59.8
Yards/Attempt 8.3 6.5
Interception % 2.1 2.6

In 2020, Watson completed 70% of his passes. In his 12 games with the Browns, he has had one game, last year’s win over the Titans where he initially was injured, where he completed that high of a percentage (27 of 33, 81.8%).

Can Watson get back to close to the level he played at in Houston? The Browns are trying everything to help him. They hired a new offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey, who has experience guiding a mobile passer.

Perhaps the bigger question is what happens is the Browns get off to a poor start, and quarterback play is a large factor? Cleveland has a huge financial commitment to Watson and has it for three more seasons.

Meanwhile, the rest of the roster is set up to win now. Myles Garrett is 28 years old and in his prime, winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year last season. Joel Bitonio is 32 and in his 9th season. Amari Cooper is 29, and David Njoku is now 27. Denzel Ward is 26.

They made the playoffs last season with Watson starting only six contests, and really only played in five. It would figure that if he played like he did in Houston, the Browns would be a Super Bowl contender.

The situation reminds us of the Odell Beckham situation. When the Browns traded for him in 2019, it had been two seasons since he was truly an elite receiver. Fans and media alike kept waiting for the guy who dazzled the NFL in his first three seasons, but that Beckham didn’t exist any more.

What if the same is true with Watson? Understanding the huge trade capital involved and the guaranteed money involved, if the quarterback cannot turn back the clock to 2020, what will Kevin Stefanski be allowed to do?

We understand everyone wants him to be that guy again, but because of circumstances, suspension, and injury, it has now been three seasons since anyone has seen it.

We would guess within the confines in Berea it has been discussed, because that’s what organizations due, and that’s why Jameis Winston was signed. The Browns need an alternative starting QB in case of injury or in case Watson’s play is just slightly above average.

Until we see the 2020 version of Deshaun Watson, we will remain skeptical. We would bet there are folks who think the same way within the offices in Berea.