Week 1 is finally upon us and the Cleveland Browns have a tough matchup to open their season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are fresh off a 13-win campaign and are out for vengeance after a disappointing early playoff exit. Jacksonville also hasn’t beaten the Browns since 2017 and is 1-7 against Deshaun Watson, so the subplots are there for the Browns to pull a big upset and regenerate some excitement around this season.
A lot of fans are understandably still livid about Watson being the starting quarterback again, but there are a lot of other pieces in place that inspire plenty of confidence for the years to come. This is the most intriguing situation that Watson has stepped into since coming to Cleveland, and if he can exceed his tepid expectations just a bit, one insider believes Browns fans could be in for a pleasant surprise.
During a recent appearance on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot spoke about Watson in a positive light. She pointed out that while she has her doubts because of what she has seen in practice, there could be a world where Watson looks better than many expect.
“I’m going to say the play of Deshaun Watson [could be a pleasant surprise]. There might be a world in which he surprises people a little bit. I don’t know for sure if that will happen because, as we have talked about, I’ve seen some things in practice that give me pause. There are things that concern me. The chemistry and the timing with certain guys like that, with Bond, with Jerry Jeudy, with Harold Fannin. And then the other thing is just those errant passes that we occasionally see every sixth pass, every 10th pass, whatever the case may be. Maybe they’ve found a way to adjust for it. If Quinshon runs the ball well and supports him with that, and occasionally Deshaun Watson can run the RPO or just take off running and look good doing that, maybe there’s a world in which he looks better than people expect him to,” Cabot said.
Shedeur Sanders outperformed Watson in preseason, in camp, and in OTAs, but it’s clear that the organization from the top down wants to give Watson one final shot to attempt to make good on the massive $230 million investment the Browns made in him. Surprisingly, there have been whispers that Sanders might not even be active on Sunday with Taylen Green potentially serving as Watson’s backup, but Todd Monken shut that down recently and pointed to Sanders likely being QB2.
As for Watson, all the pieces are there for him to succeed. Monken’s offense caters to his strengths and he has weapons everywhere, as Cabot mentioned, even though he might not have the best chemistry with some of the new guys yet since he hasn’t played with them as much as Sanders has.
He may never win over some of the fans that have understandably turned on him, but winning will soothe a lot of pain. Hopefully Watson can shock the world on Sunday and deliver a spirited performance in an upset of the Jaguars.
NEXT: Browns Analyst Says Week 1 Matchup Could Be A Season-Changer
