Introduction:

As we know, Deshaun Watson played his first game for the browns week 13 against the Houstin Texans, after not playing for over 2 years. In that game, he played terrible. The games after that were just ok, with a few flashes of his 2020 self. In this blog, we are going to answer the question, was his struggle a fluke, or a sign of what’s to come?

The first thing to keep in mind is that Deshaun Watson’s first 6 games were not TERRIBLE like some people made it out to be. While he did not play like a 230 million dollar QB, he also should not be getting compared to Russel Wilson. Unlike Russel Wilson, he showed flashes of greatness in those 6 games. Playing just ok is acceptable, considering he has not played in over 2 years.

Now, we will get into why I expect much better in the future, and I will explain some reasons why he struggled in his first 6 games on the browns.

When Deshaun Watson came to the browns, the offense was adjusted to Jacoby Brisset’s style of play. The wide receivers would quit early, because they were not adjusted to playing for a QB who is great at extending plays. Many times, when Deshaun Watson’s pass hit the ground incomplete, it was due to a receiver thinking the play was over while Deshaun Watson was still looking for a target.

Similar to the receivers, the offensive line also had their struggles. they were so accustomed to blocking for Jacoby Brisset, that they ended up allowing lots of sacks and allowed Watson to be consistently pressured. Deshaun Watson was under lots of pressure from the D line, while his receivers were messing up, after not playing in over 2 years. That is a difficult situation to be thrown into. Deshaun Watson was in preseason mode when all the other 31 NFL QB’s were in end of season mode.

Conclusion:

Deshaun Watson’s first 6 games with the Browns were not terrible, but he did not play like a 230 million dollar QB. He showed flashes of greatness, but he was also under a lot of pressure from the D line and his receivers were not used to playing for a QB who is great at extending plays.

I expect much better from Watson in the future. He has an offseason to adjust to his new offense and make corrections with Kevin Stefanski. The defense should be an advantage for the Browns next year, and the expectations are high. Missing the playoffs this year would be a fireable offense for Stefanski.

photo credit: “2022 Cleveland Browns Training Camp” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0