The Cleveland Browns quarterback situation has already generated more storylines than perhaps any other position battle in the league this offseason, and CBS Sports analyst Douglas Clawson believes another big storyline will come from the Browns’ Week 1 game at Jacksonville. Clawson went as far as to suggest that the Week 1 game against Jacksonville could mark the final game of Watson’s career.
Clawson explained his reasoning behind his prediction.
“Prediction, Week 1 will be Deshaun Watson’s last NFL game. Deshaun Watson won the starting QB job in Cleveland, but it won’t last long, at all. He hasn’t been the same after leaving Houston and he’s dealt with a season ending shoulder injury and two Achilles injuries with the Browns. The Browns will start an NFL record six different QBs this year, including Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green,” Clawson wrote.
This prediction arrives after an offseason that already tested Watson’s standing with Browns fans, from his emotional press conference admitting he did not know if he could overcome the boos at Huntington Bank Field, to the wave of national skepticism that followed his eventual naming as the Week 1 starter.
Should Watson suffer another significant injury early in the season, the Browns would have no shortage of options to turn to, though cycling through that many starters at the position would represent an extraordinary level of instability even by Browns standards.
Watson enters the season with a smaller margin for error than most starting quarterbacks around the league. Whether he silences this kind of speculation with a healthy, productive season or the depth Cleveland built at the position ends up getting tested sooner than anyone hoped, the opener represents the first real answer to a question that has followed Watson since before training camp even began.
NEXT: Browns Rookie Lands On Impressive NFL Preseason List
