Why Browns' season hinges on Kareem Hunt and Jerome Ford, not Deshaun Watson

Although it come at the expense of a season-ending injury to Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt’s patience may have finally paid off.

The 28-year-old running back inked a one-year, $4 million deal to return to the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday. 

Although he will likely be the No. 2 option behind Jerome Ford, Hunt will presumably see a larger role within the Browns offense than the 100.5 carries he averaged over the last two years, making he and Ford the two most valuable players in Cleveland’s offense.

No, Deshaun Watson is not forgotten, but he’s clearly not the same quarterback he was in Houston (taking more than two calendar years off will do that), and he’s proved that the Browns can’t rely on him right now to be the reason they win games.

With the Texans, Watson compiled a 28-25 record and averaged 269.2 yards passing and 1.92 passing touchdowns per game with a completion percentage of 67.8 and a passer rating of 104.5.

With Cleveland, he’s 4-4 as a starter and averaging 186.4 yards passing and 1.12 passing touchdowns per game with a completion percentage of 57.3 and a passer rating of 76.2.

Watson’s sack percentage also increased from 9.1% with the Texans to 10.8% with the Browns, despite playing behind a better offensive line that allows him more time in the pocket (2.7 seconds to 2.5 seconds) with a lower pressure rate (22.1% to 26.7%) than what he had with the Texans.

In addition to Watson’s shortcomings, the Browns are also a run-first team, and Kevin Stefanski is a run-first head coach.