Coaches react to Browns' Watson not being named top-10 QB

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Coaches react to Browns' Deshaun Watson not being named top-10 QB

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/17/23

For an ESPN piece published Monday, anonymous "league executives, coaches, scouts and players" left Cleveland Browns starter Deshaun Watson out of the top 10 for quarterback power rankings heading into the 2023 season.

Not everyone asked necessarily agreed with that call.

"Keeping him out of the top 10 feels wrong," one NFL quarterbacks coach said about Watson. "He's too good. But putting him in the top 10 also feels wrong based on the play last year and the lack of play the last two seasons."

Watson earned Pro Bowl nods every season from 2018 through the 2020 campaign while with the Houston Texans but then didn't take a meaningful snap during the 2021 season following a trade request.

Houston sent the 27-year-old to Cleveland in March 2022, and the Browns signed Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M deal even though they knew at the time he could miss a large portion of the subsequent campaign due to lingering allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions.

In the end, Watson served an 11-game suspension before he made his official Browns debut last December. He posted a 3-3 record as Cleveland's starter and completed 99-of-170 pass attempts (58.2%) for 1,102 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. According to ESPN stats, Watson would have ranked 27th among eligible players with a 38.3 adjusted QBR.

He also rushed for 175 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries.

"I saw improvement over those last two games, and I think he'll be fine in that system," an NFC offensive coach added about Watson. "He's still, to me, when he's right, a top-five passer. He needs time on task."

Interestingly, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler mentioned that some in the NFL wonder if Watson is the right signal-caller to play in a run-heavy offense embraced by Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Cleveland's Nick Chubb finished last regular season third in the league with 1,525 rushing yards and 302 carries, but he scored all 12 of his rushing touchdowns when Watson was suspended.

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