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In one of the most shocking moves of the offseason, the Cleveland Browns pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson, formerly of the Houston Texans, sat out all of the 2021 season as he faced allegations of sexual assault. Now, he's expected to make his return to the field as a Brown in 2022. Expectations are sky-high for Watson and Cleveland in general, as they are viewed as a potential Super Bowl contender by some. It's hard to predict how Watson's season will go, but here are three bold predictions for his 2022 campaign.
1) Watson will be a top-five statistical quarterback in the NFL
The last time Deshaun Watson played in the league, he was quarterbacking a horrendous Texans team. His best receiver was Brandin Cooks, his offensive line was terrible, and there was almost zero run game to take the pressure away. Despite all of those factors, Watson had a massive statistical season. He nearly threw for 5,000 yards, 33 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions.
Those are downright elite numbers, and he produced them with the Texans. Now he has one of the better offensive lines in the NFL, a legitimate wide receiver corps, and an elite run game. He has all the help he needs to produce another monster season.
Deshaun Watson Career stats
Rating- 104.5
Cmp%- 67.8
YPG- 269.2
Int%- 2.1
Most yard in a season- 4,823Russell Willson Career stats
Rating- 101.8
Cmp%- 65
YPG- 234.6
Int%- 1.8
Most yards in a season- 4,219Watson is 7 years younger. Yeah his trade value is and should be higher. pic.twitter.com/sJGg3HOoRe
— Beer Belly Sports (@BeerBellySport) March 14, 2022
2) Watson leads his team to double-digit wins
This may not seem like much of a bold prediction, but it certainly is. Cleveland has an absolutely nightmarish schedule, as they have to face the Buffalo Bills, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Los Angeles Chargers in addition to all of the teams in the AFC North.
The AFC North is one of the best divisions in football, as the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals are both playoff contenders. The Browns don't have an easy path to double-digit wins, but Watson will lead them there. Cleveland is good enough to take one game from the Ravens and the Bengals while sweeping the Steelers.
They should also dispatch the New England Patriots at home while handling business against all the poor teams on their schedule. Expect Watson to pull off some huge upsets to propel Cleveland to double-digit wins.
3) Watson will win at least one playoff game
If the Browns do win at least ten games, they should make the playoffs. They might be a wild card team, but that won't matter. Assuming Cleveland wins 10 games and gets into the postseason as the fifth or sixth seed, they should avoid a matchup with the top AFC contenders. That means they'll likely get a matchup against the winner of the AFC North or the AFC South. It's fair to say that Watson and the Browns are better or on par with every single contender in those two divisions.
Even if the Browns face the reigning AFC champion Bengals, Watson could lead his team to a win. Cleveland actually beat the Bengals twice last year, and that was with Baker Mayfield at the helm. It's hard to count out the Browns in any playoff matchup when they have Watson, especially if they get to face a favorable opponent.
