The Cleveland Browns, if they had a brain cell to share amongst the entire front office and ownership, knew that their decision to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson was not one for the 2022 season, but rather for 2023 and beyond. While there was no suspension yet handed down at the time, they knew one was coming, and they knew it would be substantial.
It may or may not have been bigger than they were expecting, but the reality is he was going to miss enough time to severely hamper their ability to win extensively in 2022. But now the calendar has rolled on to 2023, and they believe they are seeing the player they paid $230 million guaranteed.
“It’s just his confidence in the system itself, understanding of what we’re asking of him and how to communicate at the line of scrimmage, everything from protections to calling plays in the huddle”, Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt told Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “He’s improved tenfold since this time last year”.
One would hope so, considering he was not very good last season. Watson played in and started the final six games, completing 99 of 170 pass attempts for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. While he posted a 3-3 record as a starter, he was carried by his teammates to one or two of those wins. He posted career-worst numbers almost across the board.
But considering the fact that he didn’t even play football in 2011 and he missed most of the 2022 season, including a lot of important in-season development, it wouldn’t be shocking if he were not playing up to the peak of his abilities. The Browns need him to find that moving forward.
“You see it all start to come together playing with a little swagger out there and having some fun”, Van Pelt said of getting to work with Watson at the start of OTAs, noting some spectacular plays—one in particular. “I’ve been around some good ones, but that was one I literally got goosebumps. I was like, ‘Wow, that was a tremendous throw and catch’”.
The play in question was a connection Cleveland is hoping to see a lot of moving forward: Watson finding new Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore on a seam route, hitting him for a touchdown on a laser throw—something he was very capable of, granted, during his time with the Houston Texans.
Regardless of what his reputation is now off the field, the reality is that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to have to contend with Deshaun Watson the Cleveland Browns quarterback twice a year for a while. If that looks anything like Deshaun Watson the Houston Texans quarterback who threw for 4,823 yards with 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions, completing over 70 percent of his passes in 2020, then they’re going to have their hands quite full. And then they also get to play Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
