The Browns are now officially one football season into the Deshaun Watson Disaster. He’s started 17 games for them over the past two and half years, and the results haven’t been pretty.
He’s 9-8 as a starter, which isn’t awful, but he’s averaged only 181 passing yards, with 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and 11 fumbles (5 lost). He’s completed only 60 percent of his passes, down from 70 percent in his last season in Houston.
He hasn’t thrown for 200 yards in a game this year, and with only 5 TDs in five games, despite facing some lesser defenses (Jaguars, Raiders, Giants). Andy Dalton, as an example, lit up the same Las Vegas defense, while Joe Flacco just torched Jacksonville. He’s just not good.
Two years in a row, Watson has been outplayed by the backups behind him (Jacoby Brissett in 2022 and Flacco last year). With how the Browns are playing, it probably won’t be long before they put Jameis Winston on the field to potentially make it a three-year streak.
The Browns gave up three first-round picks, as well as a five-year contract worth a fully guaranteed $240 million, to sign up for this headache. (They were willing to outbid the Falcons, Panthers, Saints and Dolphins, who all managed to wiggle off the hook unscathed.)
It can be argued that Watson has been missing at least one of his offensive tackles in every game. That’s contributed to him taking a league-high 26 sacks. But Watson has long had issues with getting caught holding the ball. He’s not great at recognizing where pressure is coming from, and he’s got a tendency to try to run his way out of pressure. He took 62, 44 and 47 sacks in his three full seasons in Houston.
Since 2018, 40 quarterbacks have attempted at least 1000 passes. Only one of those quarterbacks (Justin Fields) has been sacked on a higher percentage of plays than Watson.
| SACK PERCENTAGE (2018-) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Com | Att | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Sk | SPct% |
| Drew Brees | 920 | 1257 | 73.2% | 9,913 | 83 | 15 | 42 | 3.2% |
| Tom Brady | 2124 | 3245 | 65.5% | 23,055 | 161 | 52 | 113 | 3.4% |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 1276 | 1950 | 65.4% | 13,023 | 89 | 37 | 77 | 3.8% |
| Patrick Mahomes | 2447 | 3676 | 66.6% | 29,044 | 225 | 67 | 153 | 4.0% |
| Jared Goff | 2337 | 3549 | 65.8% | 26,551 | 157 | 72 | 173 | 4.6% |
| Philip Rivers | 1106 | 1642 | 67.4% | 13,092 | 79 | 43 | 85 | 4.9% |
| Justin Herbert | 1672 | 2513 | 66.5% | 17,801 | 119 | 43 | 136 | 5.1% |
| Josh Allen | 2068 | 3276 | 63.1% | 23,648 | 175 | 78 | 181 | 5.2% |
| Tua Tagovailoa | 1136 | 1700 | 66.8% | 13,122 | 83 | 40 | 94 | 5.2% |
| Trevor Lawrence | 1209 | 1906 | 63.4% | 12,870 | 64 | 41 | 106 | 5.3% |
| Joe Flacco | 786 | 1282 | 61.3% | 8,683 | 50 | 25 | 75 | 5.5% |
| Dak Prescott | 2101 | 3115 | 67.4% | 23,892 | 165 | 61 | 190 | 5.7% |
| Aaron Rodgers | 1924 | 2948 | 65.3% | 21,646 | 169 | 31 | 181 | 5.8% |
| Derek Carr | 2270 | 3359 | 67.6% | 25,234 | 145 | 66 | 208 | 5.8% |
| Mitchell Trubisky | 1006 | 1545 | 65.1% | 10,348 | 65 | 41 | 98 | 6.0% |
| Kirk Cousins | 2212 | 3258 | 67.9% | 24,638 | 179 | 60 | 208 | 6.0% |
| Mac Jones | 869 | 1316 | 66.0% | 8,940 | 46 | 36 | 85 | 6.1% |
| Andy Dalton | 1260 | 2004 | 62.9% | 13,652 | 84 | 53 | 133 | 6.2% |
| Kyler Murray | 1586 | 2377 | 66.7% | 16,619 | 101 | 48 | 160 | 6.3% |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 661 | 1021 | 64.7% | 7,999 | 50 | 33 | 69 | 6.3% |
| Matthew Stafford | 1947 | 2974 | 65.5% | 22,536 | 144 | 65 | 201 | 6.3% |
| Teddy Bridgewater | 821 | 1216 | 67.5% | 8,970 | 47 | 25 | 83 | 6.4% |
| Cam Newton | 681 | 1054 | 64.6% | 7,308 | 36 | 29 | 76 | 6.7% |
| Matt Ryan | 1921 | 2871 | 66.9% | 20,996 | 121 | 57 | 209 | 6.8% |
| Jacoby Brissett | 750 | 1211 | 61.9% | 7,772 | 40 | 17 | 89 | 6.8% |
| Jalen Hurts | 1090 | 1710 | 63.7% | 12,694 | 71 | 38 | 126 | 6.9% |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 1094 | 1623 | 67.4% | 13,244 | 82 | 46 | 121 | 6.9% |
| Jameis Winston | 825 | 1339 | 61.6% | 10,484 | 72 | 55 | 100 | 6.9% |
| Baker Mayfield | 1860 | 2978 | 62.5% | 21,496 | 141 | 76 | 226 | 7.1% |
| Gardner Minshew | 990 | 1563 | 63.3% | 10,951 | 63 | 29 | 120 | 7.1% |
| Joe Burrow | 1413 | 2068 | 68.3% | 15,453 | 109 | 39 | 159 | 7.1% |
| Lamar Jackson | 1460 | 2262 | 64.5% | 17,093 | 134 | 46 | 174 | 7.1% |
| Carson Wentz | 1429 | 2261 | 63.2% | 15,214 | 104 | 46 | 178 | 7.3% |
| Geno Smith | 935 | 1374 | 68.0% | 10,115 | 60 | 25 | 110 | 7.4% |
| Sam Darnold | 1169 | 1948 | 60.0% | 13,175 | 74 | 60 | 163 | 7.7% |
| Daniel Jones | 1335 | 2078 | 64.2% | 13,650 | 68 | 43 | 191 | 8.4% |
| Ryan Tannehill | 1410 | 2127 | 66.3% | 16,426 | 110 | 49 | 202 | 8.7% |
| Russell Wilson | 1853 | 2831 | 65.5% | 21,477 | 173 | 50 | 279 | 9.0% |
| Deshaun Watson | 1370 | 2061 | 66.5% | 15,909 | 104 | 40 | 218 | 9.6% |
| Justin Fields | 670 | 1094 | 61.2% | 7,635 | 45 | 31 | 148 | 11.9% |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan