Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson attempted just three passes in last week’s preseason loss to the Washington Commanders, along with three rushing attempts. It was a limited showing consisting of just one drive, which ended on a turnover on downs from Washington’s one-yard line.
He did not play last night, however, leaving a broader analysis of his play up to this point inaccessible to those who have not been at the Browns’ training camp. At least one who has did not come away impressed with what he’s seen.
The Athletic reporter Zac Jackson wrote critically of Watson and the passing game recently, albeit not without the caveats of the limited availability of some of their top talents like WR Amari Cooper. Still, there was enough there to question in his “stock down” assessment.
“The passing game has been completely unimpressive”, he wrote. “Anything that involves Deshaun Watson remaining in the pocket has been an adventure, and not since early in camp have we seen strings of consecutive completions in any 11-on-11 period”.
Allowing that there have been some impressive throws, he added that there has been little consistency present in the passing game, and very little happening down the field beyond 10 yards. Yet not everybody agrees with that interpretation.
Aditi Kinkhabwala, for example, said that Watson is “So different from a year ago. ‘Night and day’ is the phrase that I used for my husband, who did not want to hear it from me. But he just is so clearly more comfortable”. She added that the Browns have truly built the offense around him this year and what he likes, and it has shown.
The veteran quarterback has said that he hopes to get a longer look during Cleveland’s final preseason game after sitting out for most of the work thus far through three games. Obviously, the Browns have decided to use the final game as their “warm up”.
They will be facing the Kansas City Chiefs, which should be a good test to try to gauge where he is heading into the regular season. It won’t take the Pittsburgh Steelers long to find out, since they will be hosting Watson and the Browns in the second week of the season, right after Cleveland takes on the Cincinnati Bengals in the opener.
And then it’s the Baltimore Ravens two weeks later, so he will get an early shot at every team in the division—or perhaps every team in the division will be getting an early shot at him.
