With the trade for Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns have put themselves back in contention and these bold predictions will happen with him under center
Bold is a good word to describe the trade that Cleveland Browns just made for quarterback Deshaun Watson. The team is giving up first-round picks over the next three seasons and several other second and third picks starting next draft to the Houston Texans, Watson’s former team.
Cleveland is also giving Watson a $230 million five-year deal with all money being guaranteed. They’ve invested everything in one player they hope will get their franchise to a Super Bowl.
Sometimes you have to sell the farm to reach success in this league and that’s the case here with the Browns and Watson. The payoff has to be great, or this will go down as the biggest mistake in the recent history of the franchise.
With that being said, the upside, from a football standpoint is tremendous with Watson’s talent and success he can bring to a team. Let’s dig a little deeper and discuss some bold predictions as Watson begins his career in Cleveland.
Cleveland Browns bold prediction No. 1: Deshaun Watson will lead top-10 passing offense
The Browns, at least on paper looked to have one of the best wide receiver groups in the league when the season began a year ago. Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were supposed to lead this team to a Super Bowl. All of that idea blew up mid-season when Beckham demanded to leave and, in the end, he was released and signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
Cleveland finished the season with the sixth-worst passing game only gaining 3,619 yards with just 12 touchdowns through the air. They only had 177 passes that were completed for first downs on the season as well.
If you look at a comparison to the top teams in the league, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led the league in yards passing with 5,383 and they had 43 touchdowns on passes. They also had 273 first downs on passes. From the Kansas City Chiefs to the Arizona Cardinals, these teams were all in the top 10 in many passing categories.
Watson will propel the Browns back into the top 10 next season. He could be sidelined for the start of the season if the NFL decides to suspend him for his off-the-field issues, but newly acquired free agent quarterback Jacoby Brissett can be a suitable quarterback to bridge the gap if Watson can’t go. In his most recent starting role with the Indianapolis Colts in 2019, Brissett went 7-8 as a starter throwing for 2,942 yards and 18 touchdowns.
In Watson’s 2020 campaign with the Texans, he threw the ball for a league-leading 4,823 yards and 8.9 yards per attempt average. He completed a ridiculous 70 percent of his passes. In addition, he threw 33 touchdowns to only seven interceptions. On top of that, he led the league in passes completed over 20 yards with 69 of them.
The Browns now have a top-five quarterback in the league about to lead their team and their passing game just got a big boost.
Cleveland Browns bold prediction No. 2: Browns will win the AFC North
Cleveland ended up finishing third, with an 8-9 record, in the very competitive AFC North Division a year ago. The surprising Cincinnati Bengals ended up winning the division with a 10-7 record.
Despite the Browns beating the Bengals twice last season, it wasn’t enough to win the division. With Watson joining the team, Cleveland will be primed to overtake the other three teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Steelers are still searching for a new identity after their long-time franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retired. At the moment they still don’t know who their new quarterback will be. Last season, the Steelers somehow managed to finish 9-7 but with the competitiveness within the division and Watson joining the Browns the Steelers will likely end up at the bottom of the division next season as they look to rebuild.
The Ravens have Lamar Jackson as their starting quarterback and despite all the glowing praise for the young and upcoming potential superstar, he was injured much of last season and has a lot more competition with the addition of Watson now to Cleveland.
Cincinnati has Joe Burrow as their rising star quarterback, and he was able to get the Bengals to the Super Bowl. It was a valiant effort, but the Browns seem to have the Bengals’ number and expect much of the same to continue next year.
The last time the Browns won a division title was back in 1989 when it was called the AFC Central Division. So, winning a division title will be a big moment for this franchise. One step in front of the other. Teams can’t run to the Super Bowl. It takes time and if the Browns win the division, it’s a good sign.
Cleveland Browns bold prediction No. 3: Deshaun Watson leads them to top 10 in scoring
The Browns had a significant drop-off in scoring points a year ago. In the 2020 season, the team averaged 26.3 points a game. They made it to the playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs by scoring 48 points.
That season of firsts abruptly ended the next to go around as they collapsed with their scoring only reaching 20.5 points a game, which ended up being 20th overall and not good enough to get them back to the playoffs. That six-point difference in scoring average meant a three-game difference in wins when comparing the two seasons and it had a lot of us scratching our heads because the team was virtually the same makeup of players in both years.
The difference factor was quarterback Baker Mayfield, who struggled with injuries and the mental side of the game, lacking the confidence he’d shown in the previous season.
With Watson now taking over as the quarterback the Browns are going to score a lot more and be back in that top 10 rankings. In the last three seasons at Houston, Watson helped the team average over 24 points a game.
With the addition of a wide receiver like Amari Cooper to the Browns wide receiver room and the excellent other skilled position players like tight end David Njoku and the solid running back tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the team should easily surpass those 24 points a game average that Watson had with the Texans.
Cleveland Browns bold prediction No. 4: Browns will make it back to the playoffs
We all thought the Browns returning to the playoffs was almost a guarantee after the previous season where they finished at 11-5 and were two games from getting to the Super Bowl.
The disappointment of last season can’t be denied. So, the Browns decided to do something about it and went out and traded for Watson.
It was a bold move like we’ve said earlier and with that comes even higher expectations and, in this case, it’s a championship. The Browns have never been to a Super Bowl, despite their long and storied history. Before we talk Super Bowl today, let’s work on getting back to the playoffs.
This should happen now with Watson under center. He took the Texans to the playoffs twice in both 2018 and 2019. His records during those seasons as their quarterback were 10-5 and 11-5.
In his first playoff game, Watson went up against the Indianapolis Colts and their franchise quarterback Andrew Luck. The Colts won 21-7.
The following season the Texans stormed into the playoffs, first beating the Buffalo Bills 22-19 and then setting up a classic game against the eventual Super Bowl winners Kansas City Chiefs. In that game, the Texans scored the first 24 points of the game, before the Chiefs woke up and had one of the biggest comeback wins in playoff history. The Chiefs responded by scoring the next 28 points, took the lead back and, won going away 51-31.
The Texans defense blew that game. The Browns will have a better defense next season and you won’t likely see a collapse as we saw in that historic game. With that said, the goal for the Browns first is to return to the playoffs. That will happen next season with the Watson in charge.