The Cleveland Browns made the decision to open the season with Deshaun Watson as their starting quarterback, despite pushback from anyone paying attention to the Browns. Still, head coach Todd Monken decided to go with Watson, and the main reason why is that Watson was, reportedly, the best quarterback operationally.
That seemed pretty irrelevant during Cleveland’s Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, because the offense didn’t function well at all with Watson running the show.
Operating the offense refers to getting the play call in, getting everyone in and out of the huddle, lining the offense up correctly, making the right checks, and avoiding pre-snap/procedural penalties. Watson didn’t do a good job of that during the 34-10 loss to Jacksonville.
The Browns had several pre-snap penalties, including a false start and delay of game on back-to-back plays, and they were also frequently up against the play clock, with Todd Monken having to burn a timeout on a second-and-1 to avoid a delay of game.
That all resulted in Cleveland having a quarterback who was bad before the snap, and disastrous after it. If pre-snap operation was truly the difference-maker for Watson in Cleveland’s quarterback competition, the franchise needs to quickly rethink who should be starting at quarterback.
Deshaun Watson’s operation struggles in Week 1 should make Browns consider a quarterback change
All offseason, the breakdown of Cleveland’s quarterback competition was simple: Watson was the better pre-snap quarterback, and Shedeur Sanders was the better post-snap quarterback. From OTAs in the spring to training camp in late summer, Watson operated with the knowledge of a 10-year veteran, and Sanders developed like a second-year quarterback.
Todd Monken decided to roll with Watson, citing this alleged operating prowess, and even mentioning that Watson’s veteran presence at the line of scrimmage should help the Browns on the road in Week 1. Now, a 24-point loss and several pre-snap penalties later, that proved not to be the case.
Of course, Monken refused to put all the fault on Watson’s shoulders, emphasizing that everyone, players and coaches, need to be better. While that may be true, fans aren’t really trying to hear that. The only thing that Watson reportedly did better than Shedeur Sanders is something that he’s apparently really bad at as well. With that quickly being proven, it’s even more evident now that Watson should be on the bench.
"There were certain things operationally that weren’t clean enough," Monken said Sunday, "us getting in and out of the huddle, getting our subs in, being up against it. And saying that you’re on the road, or the heat or all that is just a bunch of excuses."
While everyone entered the season believing it’s only a matter of time before Watson is benched, that time could be coming sooner rather than later. After the game, Monken was asked if he’s sticking with Watson as QB1, and he was noncommittal. While the head coach made sure all the blame didn’t fall on Watson, he also said he would have to watch the tape before making any decisions.
After watching the tape, and seeing how much Watson struggled before and after the snap, Monken should do what he should’ve done before the season: name Shedeur Sanders the starter.
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