The Cleveland Browns are sticking with Deshaun Watson heading into Week 2, but Skip Bayless is not buying that this remains a long-term plan. Appearing on Gridiron with Aqib Talib, Bayless broke down Watson’s performance against Jacksonville using two very different grading scales before pivoting into a theory about what Todd Monken is actually building toward behind the scenes, one that has nothing to do with Watson at all.
Bayless believes that Monken wants to ultimately start Dillon Gabriel when he comes off of IR.
“If we’re evaluating Deshaun by Houston Deshaun scale, then he was an F. He should’ve been yanked in halftime. Any other coach, you just yank him at halftime and just put Shedeur in. He’s a disaster because he’s a shell of his Houston self. So, who is this guy? Well, if I’m just evaluating it by Cleveland Deshaun standards and that grading scale, I’d give him like a C because it was kind of about average for what he’s been in Cleveland. Well, he looked okay in the second half for what that’s worth, but it was still a complete wipeout. And they’re going to get wiped out by the Bucs. And I think Monken’s gonna try to get Deshaun through the first four games by defending him every press conference so that they can bring Dillon Gabriel off IR and start him because I think that’s who Monken wants to go forward with is Dillon Gabriel,” Bayless said.
The theory about Dillon Gabriel is where things get more interesting. Gabriel opened the season on injured reserve with a back injury suffered late in the preseason, and he becomes eligible to return once Cleveland gets through its first four games, a stretch that ends right around a matchup with Pittsburgh. Bayless is essentially arguing that Monken already knows Watson is not the long-term answer, and that publicly defending him each week is simply a bridge strategy to buy time until Gabriel is healthy enough to take over.
That puts a very different spin on Monken’s postgame comments since Sunday, where he has repeatedly pointed to coaching and scheme as the primary issues rather than placing blame on Watson.
Nothing about this theory has been confirmed by anyone inside the organization, and Monken has given no public indication that Gabriel is being fast-tracked as the eventual starter. But with Watson’s job security already a major storyline just one week into the season, and Sanders sitting as the more obvious internal alternative, Bayless floating a third name entirely adds yet another layer to a quarterback situation that shows no signs of settling down anytime soon.
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