Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski made several changes to his offensive coaching staff this offseason, most notably at offensive coordinator, as the team parted ways with Alex Van Pelt who had worked alongside Stefanski since 2020, and hired ex-Bills OC Ken Dorsey.
Now, a key decision on who will be the primary play-caller looms large as Stefanski mulls over whether or not he'll retain those responsibilities or if he'll pass them off to Dorsey. At the very least the expectation is that Dorsey brings a fresh perspective to the offense and helps rehabilitate quarterback Deshaun Watson into the top 10 signal caller he once was.
Late last week, Watson addressed the hire for the first time via the QB Unplugged podcast he hosts with personal coach Quincy Avery and shared a ringing endorsement of his new OC.
"I'm super excited," Watson began. "... being able to go through the history of his coaching career, going all the way back to Carolina and I think he made a couple stops in between before going to Buffalo. Being able to call plays in big games like the AFC Championship game and Divisional Round, just regular big games during the regular season while he was in Buffalo.
"I think he was the quarterback coach for Cam [Newton] when he won the MVP – took them to the Super Bowl. Last couple years with Josh [Allen] – everybody knows what Josh has been doing up in Buffalo. I think he came in second and third a couple of times for MVP."
While Watson continues to rehab from shoulder surgery out in Los Angeles he expressed a genuine eagerness to get back to Berea in the months ahead and starting working with Dorsey.
"I'm super excited to get up there in Cleveland and get the playbook and just learn from him. I heard his press conference too, that was dope to hear what he said about making me one of those type of quarterbacks again, so, that's the key."
Returning Watson to one of the top QBs in football is priority No. 1 for Dorsey, who is a former Browns QB himself. Now he's back with the franchise in a much different role, but it's one Watson and Avery see a lot of potential in.
"Oh for sure," Watson said laughing in response to Avery who pointed out Dorsey's propensity to push the ball down the field. "He gonna spread it out too. Hey, it's five wide, you might have [Amari Cooper] at running back, you might have [Nick Chubb] at receiver – like it's everything.
"I'm out in LA training with a couple of guys who played in Buffalo and once they heard the news and I asked them about Ken, they were like 'it's super exciting. He wanna score a lot of points, he wanna be the top offense in the league and he want everybody to be successful."
Watson and Avery went on to discuss their curiosity in how Dorsey and Stefanski will put their heads together – something fans are equally as interested to find out. What that all looks like will start to take shape as the Browns navigate the offseason and get ready for the start of the offseason program in April.
More must-reads: