The Cleveland Browns will open the 2026 season on Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, and while Week 1 is mostly a time for optimism and a sense that anything can happen–the four-win Patriots made the Super Bowl last season!–it’s hard to drum up that kind of enthusiasm for this Browns bunch. The roster has gotten a huge boost of talent over the course of the past two drafts, and a youth movement is on the way, but as long as the Browns continue to trot out subpar quarterbacks, with Deshaun Watson the QB1 to start, it’s hard to see any real improvement ahead.
As we know, Watson beat out second-year man Shedeur Sanders for the starting job this offseason, despite coming back from a nearly two-year layoff and posting just a 9-10 record in the rare instances in which he has been healthy. New coach Todd Monken seems to prefer Watson’s veteran experience over Sanders’ youth, but in the end, there’s little reason to think that either option was going to put the Browns in playoff contention this season.
Ten-and-a-Half Quarters for Deshaun Watson?
There have been no shortage of critics when it comes to the Browns’ decision to start Watson over Sanders–or of the team’s decision not to upgrade the quarterback room at all this season. One of the harshest has been Browns beat writer Zac Jackson, who has called out the decision to even consider Watson as foolhardy going back to March.
On Wednesday, Jackson appeared with Tony Lima and Ken Carman on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, and was asked how long he thought the Browns would stick with Watson. He did not hold back.
Said Jackson: “I put the over/under at 10-and-a-half quarters. So, if he makes it to the over then he probably makes it through the first month because it’d be hard on that short week. But I just don’t know what anybody sees in this. And I don’t know anybody outside the building that sees what they see. I mean, we’ve seen this guy play, we know what it looks like.
“You hear the coach say ‘body of work’ and we know his body of work. How, two years later, could it be any better?”
Deshaun Watson Has Struggled for Browns
In the 19 games he has played in Cleveland, Watson has thrown for an average of just 177.1 yards per game, with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has an abysmal passer rating of 80.7 as a member of the Browns, and lost his last five games in a row back in 2024. The offense averaged 15.6 points in his last season as starter.
If there is hope for Watson, it’s that he has been an effective running quarterback, with a career average of 5.4 yards per attempt. Monken hopes to unlock that–except that after the injuries, there’s no real sign that Watson still can be an effective RPO quarterback.
Again, Jackson does not see much future in that.
Asked about Watson as an RPO guy, Jackson said: “It is comical because he is not even fast anymore. He does not have one skill that challenges NFL defenses. You’re right, that is probably what they are going to do. Really, Todd hinted throughout the whole spring that experience and mobility had given Watson the edge. He outright said that a couple of times, he danced around it other teams so we probably are going to see that. But that to me is just comical.”
Browns Have a Better Roster Now
Given another chance to perhaps inject a bit of hope for Browns fans, Jackson remained skeptical. It was put to him that Monken, who is an innovative offensive coach, could “scheme up” some early success for Watson and the Browns, Jackson was tepid.
He pointed out that the Browns do have a better roster to help Watson: “Ken Dorsey came in and had him throwing sideways passes, and it didn’t work. They didn’t have Judkins, they didn’t have Fannin, they didn’t have—yes, in theory. … Like I said, I expect Judkins and Concepcion to get a bunch of touches. When I think about Deshaun’s body of work from the summer, I think he had success finding Harold Fannin over the middle. … Maybe, but I don’t hold out a lot of optimism.”
Browns’ Deshaun Watson Gets Brutal Projection Before Jaguars Game