Are we buying or selling Deshaun Watson in 2023?

(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

So, are we buying or selling quarterback Deshaun Watson for this upcoming Cleveland Browns 2023 season? While the majority of you are automatically buying Watson’s season ahead just because, I am a bit more hesitant in my assessment, and will not, at least for now, buy into the hype.

Last season Watson played toward the end of the year and had a record of 3-3. He hadn’t played in a real NFL football game in over two years. Many of you will suggest that he was just rusty and that he’ll bounce back to his early days in the NFL when he took his former team, the Houston Texans to the playoffs in 2018 and 2019.

Watson had several good seasons with the Texans before he had off-the-field issues and eventually was traded to the Browns in 2022. It’s not unrealistic to assume that he will have a great bounce-back season. However, we really won’t know until we play out the schedule.

There have been a lot of positive vibes coming Watson’s way coming out of mini camps and many that have been following the team closely have observed the quarterback doing some really good things. Long-time sports columnist Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently wrote about Watson, and what we should expect, and he was cautiously encouraged by what he has heard and seen.

I’m also a bit cautious when thinking about Watson’s season ahead. if you look back at Watson’s career, there have been some glaring weaknesses that have shown up and if not corrected, they may play a factor in how well he actually does in 2023.

One of those areas is the number of sacks Watson has collected. Some will contribute these sacks to the fact that he’s a mobile quarterback and sometimes runs into sacks. In less than five seasons, he has been sacked 194 times. He was sacked 20 times last season in only six games. Back in 2018, while playing for the Texans he was sacked 62 times. That’s not a good statistic to have high numbers in and it should be a legitimate concern.

I’m hoping that Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, offensive coordinator Alex VanPelt and offensive line coach Bill Calhoun have a good plan to keep Watson standing upright this season.

Watson has also had a couple of seasons where his team was not that great record-wise. Yes, he made it to the playoffs in two seasons but if you look at the others they weren’t as good. Back in 2020, Watson and the Texans went 4-12. Statistically, Watson did well by throwing for 4,823 yards and 33 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions, but his team finished that season losing five games in a row.

Now back in Cleveland, many analysts and fans want to believe that this year’s team especially their offense could be a juggernaut with all their weapons that include Nick Chubb, Amari Cooper, and Elijah Moore.

All of this could work out very well for the Browns and Watson, and we could be looking at a postseason for the Browns. That would be the most ideal outcome and one that I hope becomes a reality.

However, the game is played on the field and Watson didn’t do anything extraordinary when he played in his six games at the end of last season. While he’s had a good off-season from all accounts of those that follow the team, it still isn’t enough for me to be sold on Watson quite yet.

So, I will continue to hold out and not drink the Orange Kool-Aid, but that may change once we see how the start of the season goes.