Deshaun Watson has been a hot topic recently after coming fire to multiple allegations for sexual misconduct from a massage appointment. According to the New York Times, Watson “faces two active lawsuits after settling 23 of the 24 claims against him this summer”. After originally being suspended for only six games, Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, hired a private investigator who extended the suspension to eleven games. Set to come back December 4th, Watson has been practicing with the Browns squad recently. Per the Akron Beacon Journal, offensive coordinator Alex Pelt said “Excited to see him out there. He made some throws after practice in what we call an ‘opportunity period.’ You’re like, ‘Oh OK, that’s impressive stuff.’ So he looks good”. Clearly, the staff and players agree that Watson has been working hard during his suspension but will his return really be the turn that the Browns desperately need?
In 2020, Watson had an impressive 4,823 yard season with 33 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions with the Houston Texans. With a great mix of pass plays and using his feet to gain extra yardage, guarding Watson is a near impossible feat at his prime. That is, in the 2020 season.
Circumstances have changed. He had the allegations which forced him out of football for almost two years and then got traded to a brand new team with new coaches and players. In addition to this, Watson played a couple drives in the preseason of this year and played…well, let the statistics speak for themselves. ⅕ passes for only 7 yards, which two of those throws were to wide open players, whom he overthrow and underthrew. Although you could chalk up that performance by saying that he was rusty and that he needed more time to get adjusted to the play book, it does prove that Watson may not be the player we remember him being in the 2020 season.
In addition to this, there are certain mysteries regarding Watson. What did he do in the off season? Is he really prepared for the league? Watson had his first practice recently and has gotten praise from his coaches but will that really translate to the game? What the media isn’t talking about, and should be, is the coaching staff of the Browns which could make a huge difference in Watson’s career.
In Houston, Watson was all over the place. Him and Brandin Cooks, wide receiver for the Texans, connected extremely frequently and it seemed like the Texans would either throw to Cooks, or Watson would run it himself. As a result, the defense adapted and would just double team Cooks and make sure there was a QB Spy on Watson (a player whose whole purpose is to make sure the quarterback doesn’t have room to run for extra yardage). Understandably, the Texans had a subpar year in 2020, only finishing 4-12 and second to last in the AFC South (the last team being the Jaguars with an atrocious 1-15 season). With the team doing as badly as they did but for Watson to produce such high numbers is not unheard of, but certainly a telltale sign of how influential of a player he was. With a good coach and good players around him, Watson has the potential to be even better then the 2020 season, while having his team win more games.
Now, for the kind of performance that we could see from Watson in the future. Will he be like Josh Allen, who has continued to show growth throughout his years in the league. Will he be like Robert Griffin III, where he had a breakout season to then get hurt and not get back to his peak. Or will he be like Lamar Jackson, where he reached his peak early in his career, dipped down for a while, and has now returned to his prime?
In my opinion, I think Deshaun Watson will be a Kirk Cousins type of player in the league moving forward. Cousins is the type of player that sits in the pocket and passes to the open man and doesn’t complicate things. A player that just plays how the coach wants him to play but can step up in big moments and maintains his cool. Although Watson has the explosiveness and quick feet that Cousins ultimately doesn’t have, for the most part, their mindset and how they play are relatively similar. Not afraid to launch the deep ball to players and not afraid to take risks. But also knows to trust his teammates. Cousins utilizes his arm but also knows the strengths and weaknesses of his team. Some quarterbacks in the league think that they need to do everything themselves but a truly dominant quarterback knows when to throw and when to run the ball. This is the same reason why Tom Brady doesn’t necessarily have amazing statistics every game. He wins the game by all means, even if it means taking a step back from his leadership position and running the ball more, or maybe adjusting to the weather conditions and only throwing short but easy throws to avoid careless mistakes. Knowing when and how to do these comes with time and Watson showed sparks of this knowledge during the 2020 season. Over time, however, I believe that Watson will rely on his speed less and less and turn into a sort of Teddy Bridgewater/Kirk Cousins hybrid, where he throws short passes and on occasion throws risky passes, but also knows the strength of the team and utilizes all of the players on the field. With injury becoming increasingly more of a problem for quarterbacks in the league, Watson may adapt his play style otherwise and go for a more fluid play style where he utilizes the tight end and full back more and throws deep on occasion.
With a roster as deep as the Browns, it should not be hard to utilize different players to catch the defense off guard. Nick Chubb, running back for the Browns, has had an outstanding season so far, with 904 yards and 11 touchdowns, as well as Amari Cooper, wide receiver for the Browns, Watson certainly has the resources to turn the Browns around. In addition, the Browns defense has quite the interesting lineup this season. Having one of the best passing defenses in the league while simultaneously having one of the worst rushing defenses, the relatively young Browns defense should continue to grow as the season continues.
Overall, Deshaun Watson will be a player that will either be a boom or bust player. He has the assets and the players around him to succeed; it is only a matter of the playstyle the coaches choose for him and how much he is willing to give for the team to succeed. The whole city of Cleveland should be excited for Watson’s debut game on December 4th against none other than Watson’s previous team, the Texans.
