3 ways Deshaun Watson instantly improves the Cleveland Browns

No. 2: His threat to run

When Jacoby Brissett ran down the sideline in the early stages of the game last week it reminded us that that’s something we should all get used to seeing when Watson gets on the playing field.

In four seasons with the Texans, Watson rushed for 1,677 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. In his 2019 season, he carried the ball 99 times for 551 yards. For comparison’s sake, former Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield, only had 571 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his four seasons with the team.

So, the fact that Watson brings this threat on a regular basis while keeping opposing teams guessing as to what to expect next will be a huge plus. You add in that this current roster has several other stars on offense including Amari Cooper and running back Nick Chubb and that threat only gets more intimidating.

The Browns will likely give Watson more opportunities to play the game where he can read the action of the defense on offensive calls and either keep the ball and run for yardage or hand the ball off to his running backs. That’s not something we saw when the team had Brissett under center. This will also add another layer of unpredictability to the Cleveland offense which is already one of the best in the NFL.