In the Cleveland Browns Week 14 game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, Deshaun Watson made the second start of his Browns career. The result was a 23-10 Browns loss to their division rivals. Watson wasn’t terrible in the Browns-Bengals game, but he wasn’t great either. It’s just game two in year one of Watson’s five-year deal with Cleveland, so there is plenty of time to turn things around. That said, there were some worrying issues on Sunday that should concern Browns fans moving forward. Here are the three reasons Browns fans must worry about Deshaun Watson after the Week 14 loss vs. the Bengals.
3. Did the rust on Deshaun Watson harden?
Prior to the Browns’ Week 13 win over Deshaun Watson’s old team, the lowly Houston Texans, the last time the quarterback took an NFL snap was January 3, 2021. That means it was 23 months and one day between his previous two starts for Watson.
The only time in recent memory we’ve seen a healthy layoff like this was with Michael Vick. After pleading guilty and serving jail time for charges related to dog fighting, Vick went from December 31, 2006, to September 27, 2009, between games in the NFL.
Vick sat out for just a few days under 33 months, and when he returned, the rust was apparent. He did become a Pro Bowl player again in 2010 and led the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs that season, but he never won a playoff game as a starter, and it’s fair to say that he was never truly the Michael Vick of old after his layoff.
Thus far in 2022, Watson looks rusty. He’s missed some open throws and had some passes batted down at the line. These are things that seem like they will come back with time. What is more concerning is his running and pocket presence.
In the Week 14 loss to the Bengals, Watson took two sacks against the team with the third-fewest sacks in the league. His running also looked labored at times, and he never looked like his fast and elusive self from the Houston days.
After nearly two years off, the pocket passer aspects of Watson’s game may come back, but will the running and quickness aspects that made him one of the great dual-threat QBs in the NFL? If that doesn’t return to near the same level, the truth is, Deshaun Watson may not be the player the Browns and the fans thought they were getting.
2. Watson doesn’t have weapons
Deshaun Watson never had a squad like Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark, and Edgerrin James alongside him on the Houston offense. In fact, the lack of high-quality offensive weapons in Texas was one of the main reasons Watson wanted out.
In Cleveland now, the players surrounding Watson may not be that much better, though.
Amari Cooper is (shockingly) only 28, but it does look like the eight-year NFL veteran’s days as a true No. 1 WR are behind him. Donovan Peoples-Jones had an incredible day (eight catches, 114 yards) in the Week 14 Browns-Bengals games. Can he keep that up every week?
Nick Chubb is great (although he struggled to find room vs. the tough Bengals run D), but Kareem Hunt is no longer the solid 1A he used to be. And as good as David Njoku looked in the Browns' Week 14 matchup, he’s always been frustratingly inconsistent.
In order to maximize the potential of Deshaun Watson, the Browns need to put better weapons around him. And with the amount of draft capital they gave up to get him and the money they paid him, it is going to be near-impossible to take a big swing for a skill position player via free agency, trade, or the draft in the next few seasons.
1. Karma is a you-know-what
The reasons Browns fans should be worried about Deshaun Watson above are legitimate athletic and football reasons for concern. This third reason is a little more esoteric. But as Toby Ziegler says on the West Wing, you never want to “tempt the wrath of whatever from high atop the thing.”
Yet that is exactly what the Browns did in acquiring Watson. And it’s not just about bringing in Watson. Everyone deserves a second chance. It’s about how the Browns did it. It’s about giving up three first-round picks and giving Watson the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history. And it’s about suspension-proofing the contract so that he’d lose precious little money during a suspension.
The way in which the Browns acquired Watson was not a good look. The organization put football above all else, even human decency and due process, and if you believe in karma, you know that’s not going to work out well in the end.
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