DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Worst trade ever...

I've seen a QB who expectedly struggled after not playing in a game for 700 days. In each game I saw steady progress until last week where the wind was blowing so hard one couldn't possibly expect any QB to throw the football accurately.

I'm in between on Watson at the moment. I actually respect Vers football observations enough to accept the premise that DW should be Elite for the Browns. Many others concur with Vers as well, and since I knew almost nothing of Watson's play, I have set and tempered my expectations according to the hype around Watson on this board. Four games in, my biggest problem with DW is that I have not seen a single flash of eliteness. Seriously, if his poor performances are due to rust, I should at least have been able to see a flash or two of his elite 'super powers,' but NOPE, nada, zip, zilch... And now there is so much going on in Berea, with vibes of implosion, a possible loss of the locker room, and crackhead moves like bringing in a reviled Youtuber and penis boxer to be our hype man that I can't help that those 'same ole loser browns' feelings that I'm experiencing now are creeping into my mind.

I have never seen elite DW from his Houston era, so I can only go by what others say about him. But I trust many of those others when it comes to football talk, so I'm doing my best NOT to BE A HATER. Still, with so little to go on and current news starting to feel like we're headed to yet another reset to some degree, I think I'm going to need DW to act like this is Missouri and Show Me because right now, I'm not a believer.

So to piggyback off this a bit...

The hole you talk about he needs to crawl out of won't get any easier with Sterfanski. He's 8 ft under starting the season. The only thing that can save Deshaun and possibly Sterfanski next year is to land a top 5 WR. That's the only crawling out of this hole. Most nfl games come down to 4 or 5 plays. You need one or two of those plays to be the receiver making it easy on the QB. Deshaun can add a play or two with his feet, a dimension the Browns have never had.

If they roll into next year with Cooper, DPJ, and some mid round rookie, that's not going to end well. The book is out on Stefanski. Teams stopped playing the pass about 5 games ago.

I believe Watson will remain about 9th through I2th in the AFC in passing abilities in perpetuity, including next year, therefore finishing about 7 and 10 next year would be right at par, or a little above actually.

If that's the case we'd be in a world of hurt. Personally I expect DW to play at close to a similar level to his Hou days.

I think “experts” who draw conclusions about how good a qb Watson is based upon this short season that followed two years of inactivity have about as much credibility as the “experts” who tell us how terrible a qb is based upon an injury plagued season. Which is to say very little!

IKR! It's all BS. QBs don't coach and only play one position at a time. Forty-seven other players and the coaches also have a bearing on the game. It just all makes me angry that we can't seem to get the right combination of players and coaches to win consistently, and some other teams never skip a beat and are very good every year.

it must be more than 6 times today, that I either read on here, or heard on a podcast about

the ole seven hundred days off excuse.

Which shouldn't be a necessary excuse for a really really good @uarterback.

At the end of the day... we need Watson to shine majorly and deliver us a Superbowl in the next 2 years.
I want nothing more than for this to happen.

Everything else will be a failure and a total disaster.

That is a subjective opinion. We are all entitled to choose what is a success or a failure or a disaster. Of course, there is a group of posters on here who are hoping and praying for a disaster so they can say "I told you so."

There's a part of me - because of the way this season was flushed down the toilet like a turd, and because of The Predator we have at QB now - that feels like the bar is elevated for the assessment of this trade to be called a success. But the reality is - if we win the AFC north, if we get deep into the playoffs and appear in a couple Championship games over the next 3-4 years, even if we don't win a SB. The trade would be a success. We were within a missed targeting call of going to the Championship game in 2020. I think we need to get there with DW to call this a good trade - and I think we need to be a consistent play off contender.

I don't believe Browns fans are praying for disaster. I think some fans are convinced Stefanski is a bad HC. I think some fans are still struggling with a man called a sexual predator by the former judge who heard all the evidence (exhibiting sexual predatory behavior) being the face of the Browns. In both cases they can be vocal - but I don't see any of them wanting the Browns to fail.

Sure there is. You just love to make up BS in your own mind.

A few things...

1. We weren't a targeting call away from anything. That play happened in the first half. This is another one of those misconceptions that gain a life of their own similar to OBJ was running the wrong routes.

2. Fans truly don't care about what Watson did. They only care that he isn't playing very well now. If he ever plays well, the whole morality club will come up with all kinds of reasons to root for him.

3. The Browns do need to be playing for the division and be in the playoffs annually, but that has nothing to do with Watson. It just needs to happen to turn this franchise around and change the culture around here. But that won't happen with Stefanski. It starts by getting rid of Depo and hiring smart competent people who are good at their jobs. The Browns don't have that. With Stefanski as HC, the Browns will finish fourth in the division next year. I'll take financial bets on this or I'll leave the board forever if someone would like to wager on this.

The morality crowd can separate his play from his depravity. At least I can. If you've been reading any of my posts about his play you can see that. So have some others you try to lump into one group and label as all thinking the same.

This. I don't see what's so hard to understand. I've stated I know and accept people who simple don't care what Watson did. I feel differently, but I can separate what he did and his play on the field.

I usually ignore most of your posts.

This is rationalizing that you really don't care what he did as long as the Browns win.

And I usually laugh at most of yours. So here we are. Just like that last one you just made. Hilarious stuff.

No it's not. But you do you. You are always right - except when your not I guess.

Again Vers! (I can't believe I'm falling for such weak BS again but I blame the snow and the bad weather... )

Listen wise man. I'm born and I partly live in Scandinavia, 100 American miles away from the Polar Circle and at least 12+ hours flight away from Cleveland.

Since I late 2017 started to follow the Browns I have spent at least an hour or two reading forums, browses thru You Tube listening to Quincy, Uncle Shay, and Skip, Colin, Stephen A or whatever their name is.

I slaveishy follow RedZone with Scott Hansen, beside me I has my iPad where I watching the Browns if that game is available and when we (the Cleveland Browns) lose/win I'm angry/happy like a little child on Christmas. When we won that first play off win against the Steelers I was singing and dancing Corvette Corvette in to the bed until my wife kicked me in the back and told me to shut the **** up, it was four a clock at night Scandinavian time.

I'm probably as invested (time wise) as you and one of my biggest dreams is to see the Browns on First Energy Stadium. I sleep in my Nick Chubb replica bought on a scam site in Thailand. Last winter I had to throw away my Baker Mayfield original shirt because of obvious reasons but **** happens. I agree that hurt a little bit because I liked that boy but it didnt prevent me from continue to support my team.

I want the Browns to win as much as anyone but I'm not going to sugarcoat bad results, weak performances and underachieving players/coaches/GM. You know my stance regarding DSW. It's personal and steams out of bad family experiences.

Being critical of Ski, Berry and underperforming players is because I care, probably too much. Soon 60 years old and in this time of my life I don't have time for BS and excuses. If it walk and sound like a duck.....

If I think the Browns has a better chance to win with a new HC, GM, player or whatever I will express my [censored] opinion on this whenever I like.
Most of the time I'm probably wrong but I don't care and BTW the same is probably true for you too. That's part of life being old, critical and too ******cynical my brother.

So FFS stop now pretending you're a unique Top Orange&Brown and the rest of us critical sodders are fake wannabes ... ( hugs my friend )

I didn't say a freaking word to you.

I know but I couldn't resist. You're ATM my favorite target except Brazilian president Lula da Silva, my local politicians and everything that's woke.

No, you just said "a group of posters" to give you plausible deniability claiming you weren't pointing out anyone specific.

Watsons stats with the Browns 2022

Starts minute 40.

No idea if he's good at breaking this stuff down - but I watched form the 40 minute mark. Concerning if there is any accuracy to this amateur's breakdown.

The amateur film break down guy is clearly a hack .... his latest video "Baker Mayfield played a PERFECT Game vs the Broncos' ELITE Defense! Week 16 Film Room" He must be trash.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pf3QlHVNL0&t=29s

Well he's no Sean McVay, but then some people think Sean McVay is wrong too.

Watson will need to play the very best ball of his career
In order for the Browns to even think of a Wild Card berth
In 2023. His 2020 season is kinda misleading.
Yeah he threw for alot of yards and had a really good TD to INT
But the Texans had no running game whatsoever.
Of course his yardage was alot.
Some of his yardage was garbage time yards
And the 4 wins the Texans achieved were vs cremepuffs.
Yet the Browns gave up 3 1st RD picks for a QB who had
Mediocre record in Texas.
Now fast foward now. His QB rating is worse than Wilson's
And Mayfield. And the truth is..Mayfield has outplayed Watson
In his tenure with the Rams
It's a bad trade considering what was given up.

j/c...

It will be interesting to see how Houston comes out of this. They had a hopeless situation in a QB that refused to play for them. Now they have the 1st overall and our (currently) 11th pick. I would expect them to draft Young or Stroud.


Worst trade ever? Watson would have to self-destruct to top the Broncos trade for Wilson, imo.

Seattle with the 3rd overall pick, compliments of the Broncos terrible season. Broncos now saddled with a terrible QB, leader, and contract. Wow.

I don't know if it is the worst trade ever, but many sports reporters felt that it was the worst contract ever. I can't disagree with that.
The loss of draft picks is a little bit of a moot point because the Browns wouldn't be able to afford them anyhow.

Talking about trades, do you know what I would do if I had a say? Every year about 2 months before the draft I would shop our #1 pick for either more draft picks in the 2nd rounds or possibly a lower #1 pick close to round 2. Everyone is complaining that we gave up 3 #1's for DW. AS I stated before on this board with examples, we don't draft anybody very good in the 1st anyway with just a couple of exceptions. We do better in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and honestly our #1 picks usually play like 2nd and 3rd rounders anyway, usually 3rd. Unless we needed a QB and we had the 1st - 3rd pick in the entire draft I'd do this every year. However, now that I'm thinking about it, we have had the # 1 pick in the draft a few times took a QB and we still screwed it up. OH my!!!

The only games we get here are Cowboys or Texans. I watched Watson play when he did play mainly because my son and daughter-in-law are Texsan's fans and were season ticket holders until he got transferred to Louisville. I was never impressed with Watson. I doubt I will be now. We gave up way too much for what I see as a slightly above average Qb. If he doesn't take this team to the SB in the next 2 seasons, we made a bad trade. You only give up that much for a Super Bowl, anything less is unacceptable.

j/c:

Watson hasn't played great thus far. The last game was in horrible conditions and that should at least be factored in just a little bit. The weather was the major story just a couple of years ago. Anyway, I think Watson was far, far greater than just an average qb who did not impress people. There are reasons why so many teams wanted him on their team. There are reasons that teams agreed to give in to the trade demands of the Texans. There are reasons teams overlooked the allegations against him. He put together one of the greatest years of any qb in recent memory on a team that had the worst talent in the league. I think some folks forget the Texans had traded away D-Hop. I am not going to get into an argument w/the Baker lovers, but I'll post this article for those of you w/an open mind and let you evaluate just how good Watson was.


Galina: Why Deshaun Watson was the NFL's best quarterback in 2020

By Seth Galina
Feb 15, 2021


As much as we all try to separate the performances of different positions from their teammates in order to isolate production, players with stronger surroundings will always fare better than those without.

We’ve spent the past month praising Aaron Rodgers for his MVP 2020 season and bowing down to Tom Brady for his playoff run to a seventh Lombardi Trophy. And why shouldn’t we? Those two were the highest-graded quarterbacks of the entire 2020 season. They deserve praise. One could even argue that Rodgers’ season was one of the great quarterback campaigns of the PFF era (since 2006).


Of course, both signal-callers played on teams that allowed them to showcase their talents. Brady’s Buccaneers happened to boast a top-five defense to continually keep him ahead of the game in terms of field position and game state. Plus, he had the best receiving corps in the league.

Rodgers was given opportunities to find open receivers via Matt LaFleur’s wide-zone and play-action scheme, and he had arguably the best receiver in the league in Davante Adams. It’s hard to go back and look through the list of the great quarterback seasons of the past 15 years and find examples where quarterbacks did not have other elite factors going in their favor.

That’s why I’m ready to make the argument that Deshaun Watson was not only the best quarterback of 2020, but also that he had the best season of the past 15 years — and maybe ever.



Absolutely nothing went the Texans' way last year, and Watson still routinely played at an elite level. Former Houston head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien traded his team's best receiver, yet Watson played better than ever before. O’Brien was fired midseason, but it didn’t phase the quarterback. He played with a terrible defense, a terrible running game and no star receivers and put up the 19th-best regular-season passing grade of the PFF era (91.2). He’s one of 29 quarterbacks to finish a regular season with a 90.0-plus passing grade.

Those 29 quarterback seasons are generally regarded as the greatest individual campaigns of the past 15 years. Tom Brady’s 2007, Peyton Manning’s 2013 and Patrick Mahomes’ 2018 are all included in this group alongside Watson’s 2020.

Better surrounding factors allow a quarterback to stay away from negative plays. Being down in games forces the quarterback to attempt more difficult passes. Not having a running game puts the quarterback in more ominous down and distances. Not having receivers who can separate forces the quarterback to hold on to the ball.

And yet, Watson torched the league despite having nothing going in his favor.

We can start with the overall records for each of those 29 quarterbacks. If a signal-caller is having an elite year, chances are his team is doing well. Twenty-six of the 29 quarterbacks’ teams won at least 10 games that season. The quarterback is the most important factor, but you can assume that other factors were involved to get to that plateau of wins.

Twenty-eight of the 29 quarterbacks’ teams finished the season at .500 or above. The only team to finish below that threshold is the 2020 Houston Texans and their four wins. Better quarterback play has resulted in wins more often than not. Watson, even while being a part of this elite club, did not have any team support.

For starters, he didn’t have much of a defense. The Texans finished 31st in defensive expected points added per play in 2020. Only the 2006 Indianapolis Colts defense was worse from a league ranking perspective, as they finished 32nd the year that Manning carried them to a Super Bowl win.

Worst defense EPA ranks among 29 QBs with 90+ season grade in PFF era
QB Defense EPA Rank
25. Tom Brady, 2011 28th
26. Patrick Mahomes, 2018 28th
27. Andrew Luck, 2016 29th
28. Deshaun Watson, 2020 31st
29. Peyton Manning, 2006 32nd

Watson is also part of a group of 10 players who notched 90.0-plus passing grades despite their defenses finishing below 20th in the league in EPA. Philip Rivers’ 2010 season in San Diego topped the list, as the Chargers' defense finished second in the league that season.

The Texans also couldn’t run the ball. They finished 31st in 2020 in EPA per rushing play. The next worst unit was the 2019 Seattle Seahawks, who finished 28th in the league while Russell Wilson still produced a 90.0-plus grade. In fact, in 17 of the 29 seasons, the rushing EPA per play of the elite quarterback's team was in the top half of the league. At the top is Manning's 2007 Colts rushing attack, which finished first that year.

When it comes to surrounding talent in the passing game, Watson doesn’t fare as poorly but does find himself in the bottom-third in a couple of categories. The Texans' team pass-blocking grade ranked 19th among the 29 seasons. Aaron Rodgers’ 2014 season was at the top with a 92.1 team pass-blocking grade. And unsurprisingly, Rivers’ 2018 season was at the bottom with a 59.7 cumulative grade.

The 2020 Texans team receiving grade was 20th in this group. Andrew Luck’s 2016 season saw the Colts finish with a 75.5 receiving grade, the lowest in the sample, while the 2016 Falcons and Matt Ryan’s great season finished at the top.

From a macro scheme perspective, we can look at play-action rate and screen rate to see how protected these quarterbacks were. Play-action passes, whether they be RPOs or otherwise, tend to define the reads for a quarterback and create distractions for defenders that a regular dropback does not.

PFF has play-action data going back to the 2012 season, and Watson again comes in pretty low. For this, I used league rank in terms of percentage of throws that were off play action because of how play-action rates have risen throughout the NFL over time. The 2020 Texans sat at 28th in the league this season in play-action rate. Only Brady’s 2020 season and Ben Roethlisberger’s 2015 season were lower relative to the league at the time. The 2016 Falcons finished first in the NFL in play-action rate that year.

PFF's screen data goes back to 2011, and it provides similar results. Watson’s Texans placed 21st in the league in screen rate — 17th-lowest of the 23 players in this selection. Rodgers' 2020 season had him throw the second-highest rate of screens in the league, while Rivers’ 2018 was last at a league rank of 29th that year.

Watson’s 2020 season is at or near the bottom in almost all team categories. River’s 2018 campaign is rough from a scheme and offensive line perspective, but he played with a top-10 running game and defense. Luck’s 2016 season and Wilson’s 2019 campaign are almost as rough as Watson’s 2020.

A big part of PFF grades is the opportunity to have negative plays. If you are 2007 Tom Brady throwing to Randy Moss, your opportunity for negative plays is small. If you are 2016 Matt Ryan, who is not being asked to perform straight dropbacks often, your opportunity for negative plays is smaller. Rodgers playing behind David Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, T.J. Lang, Bryan Bulaga and Corey Linsley in 2014 limited the pressure he faced, and therefore, there was less of a chance to have a negative play.

It’s not to say those seasons aren't great — they are, undoubtedly — but Watson’s season, without any semblance of team help and still grading at that incredible level, might be the most impressive.

I’m less concerned with the supposed scheme issues than the talent surrounding Watson. The complaints about lack of play-action chances are definitely founded in reality. With Bill O’Brien coming from coaching Tom Brady, that’s the scheme he brought with him to Houston. No one complains when Brady’s coaches don’t call play action enough for him, because he can drop back and complete passes without it at an elite level.

That’s what happened with Watson this year. He didn’t need play action. Watson was the third-highest graded passer without play action, screens and RPOs this season, behind only Rodgers and barely behind Mahomes. Could the Texans have gone away from the “all-stick route” offense? Maybe, but Watson was playing at such an elite level that he was getting completions on any concept drawn up for him. These macro scheme complaints don’t really hold up when talking about the elite players in the game. Does Jared Goff need play action? Yes. Did Watson require it? No.

Did this stop me from making the same complaint? Also no.



Watson has always had this level of play in him, but like so many other quarterbacks, performing at such a level for an entire season proved difficult over his first three years in the league. Specifically, Watson's floor games of past seasons completely vanished in 2020. Over the first three years of his career, Watson had 12 games where his passing grade dipped under 60.0. He had no such games in 2020. And getting his turnover-worthy play percentage down to 2% from 3.6% in 2019 was part of that.

In the Texans' Week 3 matchup against the Steelers, Watson engineered a superb two-minute drill that showed everything he’s about right now. The Steelers would end the season ranked second in defensive EPA per play, and Watson tore them up. Getting the ball back with 1:14 left in the first half at their own 25, the Texans took five plays to get into the endzone, with Watson going a perfect 5-for-5.



We start with a quick hitch route to Brandin Cooks. Watson really could throw to either tight end Darren Fells or Cooks. On this concept, with the cornerback off, you are reading the first low defender. He immediately buzzes outside, which opens the throw to Fells, but Watson never believes he can get out fast enough to get under Cooks' route, either. He throws as soon as he finishes the end of his drop and puts the ball on Cooks' outside shoulder, where it should go.

On throws that we chart and bucket as “stick” throws, Watson’s adjusted completion percentage jumped from 76% over the previous two seasons to 92% this past year. His grade on those attempts was good enough for second-best in the league. He took what was given to him and kept the chains moving.



The Texans try to start picking up chunk yardage, so they call their sail concept hoping to find Randall Cobb in some space. The Steelers end up in Cover 3, but with the flat defender getting wide immediately off the snap, Cobb settles into the void instead of staying on the run to the sideline. The read for Watson is to quickly check if the outside receiver can win on his deep route and then to read that same flat defender for a high/low with Cobb and the running back.

Again, with the flat guy so wide, it creates space for Cobb to sit into. Watson reads it the same way and delivers into the void. He hammered Cover 3 this season to the tune of a 93.0 grade, which ranked second-best in the league during the regular season.



The Steelers are starting to get nervous and show like they are going to pressure Watson and play man coverage behind it. They end up rushing only four while playing man with a low-hole defender. Watson is looking to his right early in the drop and sees the player covering Fells run and open a window for Cooks on the in-breaking route.

The problem is that the Texans' offensive line has trouble picking up a stunt along the line of scrimmage, forcing Watson to come off his spot. When he’s ready to throw again, it looks like that low-hole defender spooks from throwing to Cooks, so he takes off into an opening and gets outside the pocket before finding Fells on the sideline for another first down.

Plays like this are where Watson really took his game to another level. We’ve always known he can move around outside the pocket, but he was throwing dimes when on the run in 2020. His grade improved from 67.6 on “scramble drill” plays in 2018 and 2019 to 94.5 this season, which led the league.



Again, the Steelers decide to blitz and play man coverage. Watson opens his dropback by looking to his right, but the man coverage on his wide receiver and the outside leverage on Fells by Cameron Sutton eliminates those two routes.

Watson moves his eyes to the left and finds Cobb again, this time on an in-breaking route, for another first down. Watson has always been good at these throws we chart as “horizontal leads.” He produced the third-highest grade in the league on these types of throws beyond 10 yards. He also led the league in the regular season on throws that we chart as “next read” — where his eyes had to work back across the field.



The touchdown throw is a beautiful drop in the bucket to Will Fuller V. The Steelers are showing man to man with one-high safety before the snap, and as long as that safety doesn’t fly over to the sideline, Watson is going to take his shot to Fuller. In rhythm. Beautiful throw. Six points.

This was Watson the whole season, even if the wins and traditional box score stats didn’t come with it. He took his game to the next level, and it’s why whenever you see potential trade packages for him, the return is astronomical.

If this is who Deshaun Watson is going forward — not a one-hit wonder — there are maybe four teams in the NFL that don’t need to take a look at him. Watson was the best quarterback in the league in 2020, and he arguably had the best season from a signal-caller in the past 15 years.


https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-deshaun-watson-best-quarterback-2020-houston-texans

Thanks Vers for posting this article but can I ask a few questions about Watson.

I have now watched all his throws with the Browns but I'm still not convinced. I know he's rusty, 700+ days without a competitive game and so on but can you give me your thoughts about the following;

a) his thought process seems to have slow down a little bit compared to his highlights with the Texans. Its not a huge difference but it's apparent time to time that his mechanics isnt the same and sometimes he also has some thought lapses where he completely lose his rythmn. Is it only him being rusty or is it possible that being without competitive games for so long has made him lose a little bit of his sharpness?

The reason I ask is because one of my boyhood heroes, tennis player Bjorn Borg, recently admitted that when he took his famous brake from top tennis at age 25 (ranked number one in the world at that time) he could never after that recover his best sharpness, speed and rhythm. One or two hundreds of a second in almsot every phase if his game made the difference. Not even 6 month of hard training helped. The sharpness and rythmn wasnt the same any longer.

b) so far I can't see that hunger and willingness that I saw when he played with the Texans. Maybe I'm fooling myself and search for things that isn't there but in general I don't like when a player looks indiffernt or smiling after a bad play/or after the game. Whats your thoughts?

c) in my opinion one very good receiver isn't enough. Even a elite QB needs at least one elite WR, a very good TE (maybe Njuko) and one very good route runner (Amari Cooper). Without a 1rd draft pick 2023 and 2024 we're in a bad position but what's worse is that we (including Stefanski) has a bad reputation when it comes to taking care of talented receivers. Rightly ot wrongly it's a fact that the Browns has a reputation to be a little bit dysfunctional and that's also something that could work against us.

Whats your thoughts about getting a new elite WR. Whats the best case scenario and off course what's the opposite? How will it affect DSW in case we can't get a elite receiver that can help him?

e) finally do you think that Stefanski and Watson is a good match and in that case why? I also want you to be critical and give me potential reasons why it shouldn't work. If you struggle to find reasons think Baker and it will work (sorry for that)

Thanks in advance and if you prefer not to answer I still wish you a Happy ending of 2022 and a HNY.

I was about to post another article about Watson, the offense, and the coaching. I'll post it after I respond to your post and I think it may help to answer some of your questions. I'll try and address a couple of your other questions first.

--I think we could really use another good WR. I think Cooper is good enough to be our #1. DPJ has progressed, but we need a 3rd guy. Maybe a guy who can stretch the field. I don't buy that Stefanski has a bad rep w/WRs. That's something that steve manufactured and folks on here bought in w/out researching the real truth. I also think that Watson will help draw WR FA talent here if we are willing to pay fair market value.

--I think Watson's fire is fine.

--I do think his mechanics are off. I've noticed that his footwork is getting out of whack. I think that is the biggest culprit on his poor throws and lack of production. I also think it's the area where the rust is most evident. Of course, the speed of the game is huge, too. I think a lot of attention is being paid to his mechanics right now, but it's hard getting quality practices in this time of year. It will be an emphasis next year in the camps.

I will post the article now and I think there are some things in it that touch on a lot of what you said.

News & Notes: Deshaun Watson believes more scoring coming soon for offense

Watson knows the Browns need to find more ways to score in the final two games of the regular season
Dec 29, 2022 at 03:43 PM

Anthony Poisal
Staff Writer



Deshaun Watson kept his answer simple Thursday when he was asked what area of his game he's looking to improve after his first four starts with the Browns.

"Offensively, especially as the quarterback, we want to score more points," he said. "Not just for me, but for the whole offense, we want to score points and put ourselves in position to put a game away and help our defense out and our special teams out. I know it's a team game and we have to complement each other, but we can help ourselves offensively. I take pride in that, and I take full control and responsibility of that."

The Browns have scored three touchdowns since Watson returned from his 11-game suspension and took over starting duties in Week 13 in Houston. After not finding the end zone in the first game, Watson has manufactured one touchdown each game — a 13-yard throw to TE David Njoku against the Bengals, a 3-yard pass to WR Donovan Peoples-Jones against the Ravens and a 12-yard rush from Watson last week against the Saints.

Watson had two good chances to secure his fourth touchdown in the final minute against the Saints, but well-placed passes to the end zone to Peoples-Jones on second down and Njoku on third down were dropped. The record-cold weather during that game certainly didn't help — WR Amari Cooper also dropped a pass in the end zone earlier in the game after his feet slipped on the frozen, snow-covered grass.

Now, with much more normal conditions this week at FedEx Field and temperatures expected to touch 60 degrees, the Browns expect to see a jump in offensive production Sunday against the Commanders.

"These next two games, we will have some decent conditions and we can really see where we're at right now," said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who also admitted that the conditions created "some factors that played into our evaluation process."

The touchdowns should also be easier to find now that Watson has had four games to operate the offense in a live setting and build chemistry with receivers. He's felt himself grow more comfortable with the playbook with each game, and he believes that comfort will lead to bigger plays — and more points — before the season ends.

"I feel very comfortable with (the offense)," he said. "The progress is continuing to grow each and every week. The stats might not show it or say it, but right now, this is not about any statistics or anything like that. It's about me improving as a quarterback and getting back into rhythm and getting into the rhythm of this offense and this team. As far as my decision making, reads, throws, timing and everything like that, it's been getting better each and every week."


But Watson still has areas that need to improve for the offense to take that jump. Van Pelt said huddle operation, play calling and footwork improvements will all be the top points for Watson in the last two games.

"Those are the biggest steps," Van Pelt said. "Just continue to improve in those areas. The accuracy is there. You're starting to see that come back. His ability to make plays on the move is back. Really, it's just a matter of fine tuning footwork, operation and all of the things that come with quarterback play."

For Watson, the top goal is to do whatever is necessary to find the end zone — and a win.

"Whatever we need to do to figure out each and every week going against a different philosophy, different team and different coordinator, we have to find ways to put more points on the board," he said.


https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/new...ves-more-scoring-coming-soon-for-offense

I forgot to answer if Stefanski and Watson are a good match. Watson touched on it when he said that he felt very comfortable in this offense. I think almost all qbs are a good match in this offense. It is very QB friendly, and that is enormously important. It's very similar to Kyle Shanahan's offense. Watson should thrive in it. What's more important is that I think Watson will make Stefanski's job a lot easier. He's never had a qb who had this many tools in his tool belt. The Browns have wisely invested in their OL and I think this offense will take off next year. We have to remember that despite the constant negativity on here, the offense has actually performed well this year for the most part. And we did it w/a backup qb.

Ah, the "we suck at drafting" as justification for giving up three 1st round picks. I guess that works if you think we should keep people in charge that suck at drafting.

Thanks for your time, I appreciate it it.


I don’t fully agree with you when it comes to Stefanski and I will do my best to in a fair way to explain why.

a) with a potential superstar like Watson (if he develops like we think) we need more than ever a HC who can inspire, install confidence and communicate with total conviction.

So far what I see with my owns eyes from my telly, listening to his pressers, listening to people with better knowledge than me then Stefanski hasn’t so far in his time with us been that guy. Some elder former pro from the Chicago Bulls who’s a Browns supporter said on YT that either you have it or you don’t. He didn’t believe on Ski as an inspiring coach who had it. Being that guy that a group of physical alpha’s listen to, trust and follows until they falls off a cliff takes something extra and Ski hasn’t yet the results, the reputation and the charisma to demand the trust and the sacrifices it takes to walk that extra mile.

b) Accountability. Every successful coach I have seen in my 50 years as a sports nerd has that ability to quite quickly separate the underachievers from the winning at all cost guys and do something about it. Kevin is IMO a nice guy but he’s not a hit man who clears the deck only with his eyes and facial expression. He’s also too soft and square as a communicator. I think these things matter more than anything when the game is tight and you have a elite talent on the field. Making good players great and great players to be elite takes more than nice little words.

Great leaders talks simple when necessary and inspiring when it matter most. Think Lionheart and Martin Luther King and you grasp what I mean. Most warriors love that ****.

c) Delegate and trust. Read that again. In such a complex organization every experienced leader knows the importance of delegate and trust. With only two eyes, one brain and limited time to your disposal smart delegation is a must.

d) Our defense has been a cluster **** more often than not. Our offense has also failed more often than expected. Any smart leader knows when it time to take command and make changes before it’s to late. Kevin hasn’t done that and the criticism has grown day by day and now it’s almost out of control. That’s bad management from both him and Berry. Doesn’t matter why and who’s to blame, sometimes a change is just necessary just for showing off.

These is a couple of my concerns with Stefanski and his leadership. Am I totally wrong you think?