The conversation around Deshaun Watson has been dominated by skepticism for years, and most of it has been earned. But Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot is making a case that he deserves a chance.
Cabot broke down exactly why Watson’s situation in 2026 is fundamentally different from anything he has experienced since arriving in Cleveland.
“Despite his 9-10 record, Watson has never really had a chance to excel here in the right conditions. He served the 11-game suspension in 2022, and then had shoulder woes from Week 3 on in 2023. In 2024, he went 1-6 before rupturing the Achilles. He’s never had an offense to match his skillset, at least not with the personnel to run it. Above all, he hasn’t been healthy his previous two active seasons,” Cabot wrote.
Through the first four organized team activities, Cabot reports Watson has been completing multiple deep passes in both seven-on-sevens and eleven-on-eleven, connecting with rookies KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston along with veterans Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond, Cedric Tillman, and Jamari Thrash. The ball is coming out with the kind of spin and velocity that was completely absent in 2024 when he was still working his way back from shoulder surgery. Todd Monken himself cited Watson’s athleticism as one of his superpowers and called it an exciting weapon.
A noted orthopedic surgeon who previously worked for an NFL team told Cabot that Watson’s arm has likely grown stronger and more accurate now that he is two and a half years removed from the procedure performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Watson is also confirmed to be 100 percent recovered from all three surgeries since November 2023, including both Achilles repairs. The surgeon noted that a re-repaired Achilles poses no greater risk than a first time rupture, which removes another layer of concern about his physical durability going forward.
The conditions surrounding Watson in 2026 are genuinely different. The offensive line is rebuilt. The weapons are better than anything he has had in Cleveland. Monken’s scheme is designed to create explosive plays and leverage his athleticism in ways that previous systems never did.
He has never had all of these things at the same time. This year, he finally does.
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