Keep Texans Talk Google Ad Free!
Venmo Tip Jar | Paypal Tip Jar
Thanks for your support! 🍺😎👍

Watson cant play football

CLEVELAND — To grasp how the Cleveland Browns spiraled into one of the worst teams in the NFL, it’s important to first return to the end of last season.


The Browns dismantled their offense this year and rebuilt an inferior version in an attempt to appease Deshaun Watson. All of the changes failed miserably. The Browns bottomed out as one of the worst teams in the league and plummeted to a 3-14 finish. They hold the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.


For three years, the Browns contorted themselves to match Watson’s strengths and desires. But teammates ultimately grew tired of the organization catering to an ineffective quarterback, and he never really fit in Cleveland. He received at least one death threat.


Now as a second Achilles tear leaves Watson’s career in danger, the Browns can begin the painful process of officially moving on from the worst trade and biggest mistake in franchise history.


How did it get to this? And how did it end so badly? Look to last year.


After Watson’s 2023 season ended prematurely with a broken bone in his shoulder, Joe Flacco joined the Browns in December and resurrected his career by throwing for 300 yards in four consecutive games — something Watson failed to do once in 19 starts with the Browns. It was an embarrassing exposure of the franchise quarterback. The problem was never the scheme.


Flacco’s performance during an 11-6 finish and improbable run to the playoffs earned him the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year and merited another contract to remain in Cleveland as Watson’s backup.


“You have to bring Joe back; somebody has to teach Deshaun the offense,” one member of the organization said as the season neared its conclusion. “Joe picked it up faster in 30 days than Deshaun has in two years.”


It was a stinging indictment of a quarterback the Browns invested three first-round picks and guaranteed $230 million to obtain.





Coach Kevin Stefanski had shown Watson film clips of his offense during their first meeting in March 2022, demonstrating how Watson could thrive in this wide zone, play-action scheme crafted by Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan. But after he arrived in Cleveland, Watson never embraced Stefanski’s system. He wanted to be in shotgun, and Stefanski wanted him under center to make the play-action component more effective.





The Browns tried giving Watson what he wanted. They fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after the 2023 season and brought in Ken Dorsey, who had more experience with mobile quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Cam Newton. Two weeks after Van Pelt was fired, Bill Callahan departed as offensive line coach to join his son Brian’s staff in Tennessee.


I’ve spoken to players who believe Callahan would have stayed had Van Pelt remained on staff — when Brian first started receiving head-coaching interviews in 2023, Bill made clear he was staying in Cleveland — but all of that seemed to change when Van Pelt was fired. Andy Dickerson was hired to replace Callahan. The changes were a disaster.


Dorsey was supposed to deliver the type of offense Watson wanted — one with more choice routes between the quarterback and receivers, more shotgun formations and more freedom. None of it worked, partly because Watson never looked like the same quarterback he was in Houston.


The Browns failed to score 20 points in any Watson start this season. They averaged 4 yards per play with him, the lowest mark in the league for any quarterback who made at least five starts, according to TruMedia. It was the third-lowest output by any Browns quarterback who made at least five starts in a season since the team returned to the league in 1999. Only Charlie Frye and Doug Pederson had worse production.


GO DEEPER


A Browns season filled with disappointment finally comes to an endThe line under Dickerson struggled with injuries and protections. Watson was sacked 33 times in his seven starts, although he did little to help himself. He consistently missed getting proper depth in the pocket — when he was supposed to drop 8 yards, he was only getting 6, according to two players with knowledge of the Browns’ offensive schemes. Watson continually ran into his linemen on sacks because he was standing in places they didn’t expect him to be.





What isn’t clear is how much Watson’s struggles can be attributed to the shoulder injury he suffered in 2023. A displaced fracture to the glenoid bone ended his season after six games. It was a common injury among baseball pitchers, but much rarer in quarterbacks, leaving the team with no way of knowing when or whether a full recovery was possible.




At the start of a late August practice, all four Browns quarterbacks went through a standard footwork and accuracy drill that generally ends with each quarterback hearing a color on command from an assistant coach and firing passes toward a net with various colors marked above the targets. But with the early portion of practice open to reporters and cameras, it was odd to see Watson throwing passes to an equipment staffer nearby while the other three quarterbacks tried to hit the net targets.


One rival executive who spoke with Browns officials before the start of the season was concerned about what lay ahead for them.


“Not an ounce of positivity about the offense,” the executive said. “The vibes aren’t exactly high.”


Watson routinely missed open receivers. Passes in the opener against the Dallas Cowboys sailed 5 yards out of bounds. In a September loss to the New York Giants, the Browns ran a slant/out combo route on a run-pass option on a key fourth down late in the game. Tight end Jordan Akins was open in the flat, but Watson didn’t see him and was stopped short of the first down on a keeper. At his weekly media availability three days later, Watson said Akins was “a decoy” on that play and not an intended receiver.


“We all saw the same things,” one player said. “We all watch the film. Guys are open.”


According to multiple players, those mistakes weren’t pointed out in film sessions, frustrating at least a few veterans who believed Stefanski wouldn’t criticize Watson in front of the team. When Jameis Winston replaced Watson after he tore his Achilles in October, players said Stefanski returned to pointing out the quarterback’s mistakes in film sessions.


Off the field, Watson spent the year dealing with traumatic personal matters. His agent, David Mulugheta, received a disturbing email in June from someone threatening to shoot Watson or burn down his house, according to a police report obtained by The Athletic. Police later closed the investigation with no suspects identified.




In the week leading up to the season opener, Watson’s father and a college teammate died within a span of a few days.


“There are other things that are bigger than this,” Watson said. “It’s been a long week … it wasn’t even really about football.”


Watson faced a new civil lawsuit during the season alleging he sexually assaulted a woman in 2020. The suit was quickly settled, and the league closed a brief investigation citing insufficient evidence. That’s how it has gone for Watson in Cleveland. He has settled more than 20 lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct since he arrived from Houston. He served an 11-game suspension and paid a $5 million fine for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.


Scoop City Newsletter





If this is the end of his Browns career, his three-year tenure in Cleveland will conclude with a 61 percent completion rate, 3,365 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and more settled lawsuits than games played. Watson’s EPA (expected points added) per dropback with the Browns was -0.19, according to TruMedia, which ranks 197th out of 201 NFL quarterbacks since 2000 (minimum 15 starts). The only quarterbacks who were worse: Zach Wilson (2021-24 New York Jets), John Skelton (2010-12 Arizona Cardinals), Blaine Gabbert (2011-13 Jacksonville Jaguars) and JaMarcus Russell (2007-09 Raiders). Watson is the only name on that list who wasn’t on a rookie deal.


Players told me there was a constant heaviness surrounding Watson in the locker room and that they felt a different energy in the building upon his departure after his Achilles injury in October. A couple of veterans told me it felt like a cloud had been lifted.


Dorsey and Dickerson were fired the day after the season ended. Former tight ends coach Tommy Rees, promoted to offensive coordinator Tuesday, will likely be tasked with helping Stefanski return to the wide zone, play-action scheme again in 2025. The Browns enter draft season perfectly positioned to select a new quarterback if they choose.



Browns promote TE coach Tommy Rees to offensive coordinator: SourceEarlier this month, Bailey Zappe became the 40th quarterback to start a game for the Browns since they returned to the NFL in 1999, a shocking number for a team that has never enjoyed stability at the most important position. Watson was supposed to change all of that. Instead, those within the Browns had privately made clear they were moving on from him even before he reinjured his Achilles. Watson tore it for a second time when he rolled his ankle while in Miami, according to the team, and had a second surgery to repair it last week.




Because Cleveland still owes him in excess of $170 million against its cap sheet, the Browns were expected to carry him on the 2025 roster before the reinjury. At the very least, the second Achilles tear means they could place him on injured reserve so he isn’t consuming a spot on the 53-man roster. In addition, Cleveland can get insurance relief against his salary and a portion of the cap hit on the $92 million still owed to him.


The image of Watson being carted off the field with a towel draped over his head while a smattering of Browns fans cheered is a painful reminder of how messy the Watson era has been. Three years after handing out the richest guaranteed contract in NFL history, the Browns are back in the quarterback market.


— The Athletic’s Zac Jackson and Katie Strang contributed to this report.
 

The Browns gave Deshaun Watson what he wanted. Now they’re paying the price​

By Jason Lloyd
2h ago

CLEVELAND — To grasp how the Cleveland Browns spiraled into one of the worst teams in the NFL, it’s important to first return to the end of last season.

The Browns dismantled their offense this year and rebuilt an inferior version in an attempt to appease Deshaun Watson. All of the changes failed miserably. The Browns bottomed out as one of the worst teams in the league and plummeted to a 3-14 finish. They hold the second pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

For three years, the Browns contorted themselves to match Watson’s strengths and desires. But teammates ultimately grew tired of the organization catering to an ineffective quarterback, and he never really fit in Cleveland.
THE REST OF THE STORY
 

A cutting humorous review of the pathetic self-destructing team known as the Browns!​


***************************************

​

Analysis​

Commentary: All things considered, it’s probably best that the Browns aren’t going to play in the Super Bowl this year​

byJanuary 23, 2025
Jim Ingraham
https://www.brownszone.com/2025/01/...ay-in-the-super-bowl-this-year/#disqus_thread
Fifty reasons why it’s just as well that the Browns will not be playing in the Super Bowl this year:

Deshaun Watson wouldn’t be able to play.

Even if Watson could play, he would probably get hurt again.

Even if Watson could play, and didn’t get hurt, he would still probably play poorly.

Even if Watson could play, didn’t get hurt, and probably would play poorly anyway, he would be one of only a handful away from having played for Browns coaching legends Hue Jackson and Freddie Kitchens.

Jed Wills would still be on he team.

Joe Flacco would still not be on the team.

The Haslams would still own the team.

Myles Garrett would still get held on every play by opposing linemen.

It wouldn’t change the fact that, in the first round of the NFL Draft not that long ago, the Browns could have selected Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen — but didn’t.

Watson would still have two years left on his contract … bummer.

Terry Bradshaw would still be on one of the Super Bowl pregame shows, and so would Bill Cowher, who hasn’t coached in the NFL in 20 or 30 years, but is still, inexplicably, referred to as “Coach Cowher.”

General manager Andrew Berry still acknowledging that the Watson trade “hasn’t yielded the impact that we had hoped.” (Gee, do ya think?).

Browns lifer Joel Bitonio ruefully observing that “the year we went 0-16, that was not as frustrating as this year.”

The Browns’ starting quarterback in the last game of their 58th consecutive year without reaching the Super Bowl was Bailey
Zappe. No, really.

As luck would have it, Zappe, in his one and only game with the Browns, never had the privilege of playing for Jackson and Kitchens.

Nor, come to think of it, did Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

To this day, the Browns are roughly none of the NFL teams that have played in the Super Bowl. Although the Browns have never played in the Super Bowl, some of them have actually watched it on TV, mainly, according to sources, just for the commercials.

Amazingly, Jim Brown never played in the Super Bowl, mainly because the game didn’t exist during his career. So I guess that isn’t so amazingly.

The Browns are still the only NFL team whose head coach jumped into Lake Erie after the season because his team didn’t win a single game.

The Browns would have won a Super Bowl, or two, by now, but John Elway showed up.

According to sources, the only reason the Browns have never won the Super Bowl is because they never played in the Super Bowl.

Some diehard Browns fans believe the only reason the Browns have never won the Super Bowl is because they are not good enough, whatever that means.

Others feel that the only reason Cleveland has never won the Super Bowl is that the Browns were never sure where the game was being played. The closest the Browns ever came to winning the Super Bowl was … oh, never mind.

Nick Chubb would have a Super Bowl ring by now, but he never played for a team that won it.

On the bright side, the Browns lead the NFL in most Super Bowls not won.
With all the criticism Wills gets, no Browns team has won a Super Bowl without him.
Indeed, it’s not all doom and gloom. For example, no Browns player has ever been penalized in the Super Bowl.

All we can go by is what we see, and what we have seen this year is that Ohio State could probably beat the Browns even with Zappe. In the meantime, when you get down to it, there is nothing much to get down to when it comes to the Browns’ 2024 so-called season.

Generally speaking, it’s not a good season whenever a team, and its fan base, is overly excited about an upcoming draft, wherein the losers pick first. That’s especially so when the losers thought they were winners, following the most expensive trade in the history of the league.

In the words of one of the National Football League’s most eloquent speakers, the great Jim Mora: “Playoffs? Playoffs?”

That’s where the Browns aren’t now.

Where they are now is not in the playoffs, or anywhere close to the playoffs.

The Browns are back at Square 1. Home sweet home. With a grossly overpaid, unproductive, habitually injured quarterback, who since coming to Cleveland, has done nothing much to enhance the team, or, for that matter, his own career.

The rest of us can only go by what we see, and what we see is invisible.
Watson and the Haslams are a perfect match, for all the wrong reasons.

Enjoy.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JB
steelbtexan said:
Different OL but still cant pickup a simple stunt. SMH
Click to expand...

Yup. Different oline but same ole shitty play. LOL

I think that part of the admittance procedure by the NFL for the new Texans franchise was that they never develop a good oline. The Texans sure have kept their part of the bargain.

Oh, and in keeping on topic in the thread, Watson sucks. :)
 
Last edited:
Thorn said:
Yup. Different oline but same ole shitty play. LOL

I think that part of the admittance procedure by the NFL for the new Texans franchise was that they never develop a good oline. The Texans sure have kept their part of the bargain.

Oh, and in keeping on topic in the thread, Watson sucks. :)
Click to expand...
Get up in there.
 
Watson states that his fans want him to give frequent updates/videos to his recovery.
marvel-future-revolution-marvel-future-fight.webp
Watson trying to stay relevant. He should normally be expected to return to play by Oct, but the Browns will try to keep him from doing so with the excuse of rehab to possibly recoup some money this year from insurance.

*****************************

Browns QB Deshaun Watson Makes Announcement on Comeback​

 
CloakNNNdagger said:
"An entire organization decision." Mary Kay can't help herself from carrying Haslam's water.................................
Click to expand...
What does Mary Kay have to do with what Haslam said? Isn't she just reporting what he said?
 
JB said:
What does Mary Kay have to do with what Haslam said? Isn't she just reporting what he said?
Click to expand...
She knows that the Haslams alone made the decision (as reported by several well-respected NFL analysts) Berry and Stefanowski was not goiing to buck the boss.
 
The Browns took a gamble, went all-in on Deshaun,
Dropped a bag so absurd, even Dan Snyder yawned.
Fully guaranteed—the biggest QB deal!
And what did they get? A broken shoulder and bad feels.

The Dawg Pound sat back, watched it unfold,
Watson’s arm went missing—like the AFC North gold.
No playoffs, no glory, no legendary run,
Just cap hell, regret, and a whole lotta "We’re done."

But wait—he ain't sweating, he's living just fine,
Throwing no passes, but still dropping one knee this time.
Yep, Jilly said "Yes!"—Watson locked down his prize,
At least off the field, he can still improvise.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and Dee look shook in the face,
So what’s their solution? A Pittsburgh disgrace!
They dialed up the Steelers like, "Yo, what’s the ticket?"
And somehow, someway, they landed Kenny Pickett.

Kenny. Freaking. Pickett.
The dude whose deep ball is a mythical cricket.
Pittsburgh was giggling, they couldn’t believe,
They offloaded their mid, and now Browns fans grieve.

But it’s Cleveland, man—this script ain't new,
Just another year of the orange and blue.
From Johnny to Baker to Watson’s big miss,
To Kenny’s small hands throwing hospital risks.

So here’s to the Browns, the kings of despair,
Where hope goes to die—but the pain’s always there.
And one thing is certain—just bet on the spin,
Because next year, they’ll do it all over again.
 
JB said:
Isn't Haslam the one that said it was the entire organization? She just reported what he said
Click to expand...
Without qualifying comment knowing it wasn't true. Haslam has said that the universal decision was made by the entire Browns football operations. But the Haslams had to consult with their 2 daughters prior to deciding to finalize the signing/contract. A ouija board would have worked much better.
 

Deshaun Watson makes a strong statement after Jimmy Haslam’s ‘big swing and a miss’ remark​

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Deshaun Watson made a strong statement on Instagram Tuesday, a day after Jimmy Haslam’s “big swing and a miss” comment went viral on social media.

“Maybe, If I weren’t built for this, I’d let it phase me…” Watson wrote, accompanied by Rod Wave’s “Shock Da World.”

The post featured 20 photos of Watson — still wearing his right walking boot — working out hard at the Browns’ practice facility in Berea to come back from his re-ruptured Achilles, which was repaired again in January. While he’ll miss a significant chunk of the season and may never suit up for the Browns again, Watson is determined to return to the game after his second Achilles surgery since November.

His agent, David Mulugheta, responded to Watson’s post: “They hate you, then they love you then they hate you again. That’s why you never live for the applause. Lock in 4!”

The post came a day after Haslam, speaking to a small group of Browns beat writers including cleveland.com at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, admitted that the Watson trade with the Texans was an epic fail. THE REST OF THE STORY
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top