I know a lot of you are Browns fans and I apologize for that. Not that it's my fault, but as a Bills fan, it's nice to have another set of fans to look down on and make the butt of our jokes and I apologize for all the times I've done that, one of which is also going to be this article, where I am going to address DeShaun Watson. We know all the bad stuff about DeShaun and how he attacked Browns fans for justifiably (in my eyes at least but apparently not his) booing him during Saturday's preseason game vs. the Bills. He completed like 5-of-11 passes or something and from what I read (I try not to watch too much preseason football- but that could be fodder for another column) played badly. 

This led me to question, really, when was the last time DeShaun Watson was a good football player?remember a game eons ago, when the Texans played the Bills in the playoffs. I think it was Josh Allen's second season and Watson clearly outplayed Josh and led the Texans to victory. But has Watson been any good since then? Let's take a look at the stats. (Copied from Pro Football Reference)

That game took place in 2019. In addition to the impressive passing stats that year, as seen above, he also rushed for over 400 yards and led the team to an 11-5 record, a playoff win and an early lead vs. the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the second round. Then the Texans traded All Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins and the Texans went 4-12 the next year, although Watson had an even better year statistically, so this may have had more do to with the decline of the Texans defense and former All-World DE JJ Watt than anything Watson did. Then came the controversy, the suspension and the trade to the Browns - maybe not quite in that order, but that was the idea.

When Watson came back to play for Cleveland 13 games into the 2022 season (coincidentally against Houston), he was no longer good. We can certainly speculate as to why, and it wasn't because of his age, as he was only 27. It probably had something to do with loss of confidence in his superiority due to his his humbling experience with his accusers, but the fact is he has never  been good for the Browns in the three partial years he has played for them, and he is now over 30 and coming off a serious injury, so he's almost certainly washed, but the Browns seem to be clinging to some hope that he's still at least some semblance of that great player in was in college and during his days in Houston. 

So, that leaves him and (poor?) Shedeur Sanders locked in a QB battle, at least as of this weekend, when Sanders apparently outplayed Watson. But almost nobody, except delusional Browns fans and some attention-seeking analysts, seem to think Sanders is any good and at least Watson was really good - on an NFL level - something like six years go. Yeah, it's a complete mess, Myles Garrett is on the Rams - but the good news is it's the Not For Long league, so the Browns have yet another opportunity to rebuild, so why not hold out hope? It can happen,  teams go from worst to first all the time in the NFL, although it's probably just not going to happen with DeShaun Watson at the helm. But, then again, there was Joe Flacco...

Addendum: Watson was named the Browns opening day starter today.