"Shouldn’t be automatic that Deshaun Watson will become the starter" - Mike Florio urges Browns to keep Jacoby Brissett as QB1 if team continues winning
The Cleveland Browns are 2-1 this season without Deshaun Watson. If the team continues to hum along at 28+ points per game pace, he may be riding the pine by the time he comes back.
Jacoby Brissett was signed in the offseason due to Deshaun Watson's impending suspension (at the time) and Baker Mayfield's soured relationship with the franchise. He has completed 66% of his passes and has four touchdowns to just one interception.
The Browns are 2-1, with eight more to play before Deshaun Watson returns. Could Jacoby Brissett win enough games to keep Watson on the sideline once he's cleared? wp.me/pbBqYq-cns0
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio broke down the path the Browns could go on before settling on Brissett. He also offered his view on when it would make sense for Kevin Stefanski's edict that Watson will 'absolutely start' when his suspension ends to stick:
"With two wins in the bank, a 4-4 mark over the remaining games Deshaun Watson will miss would put them at 6-5. Win five of eight, and they’d be 7-4. Go 6-2, and the Browns would be 8-3 after 11 games.
"Next, the Browns travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons. Then it’s consecutive home games against the Chargers and Patriots. Week Seven, at the Ravens. Week Eight, the Bengals on Monday Night Football. After a bye, it’s at Miami, at the Bills, and a visit from the Bucs.
"That trio of games preceding Watson’s return will make it easier to pivot to Watson, since it’s entirely possible the Browns will be riding a three-game losing streak when Week 13 rolls around. But what if Brissett wins one or two of those games? What if the Browns are 7-4 or 8-3?"
Florio then made the main point of his argument.
"What’s in the best interests of the team, sticking with the hot hand or inserting a quarterback who will have gone 700 days exactly between regular-season games?
"Hopefully, they won’t turn to Watson simply because they gave up so much to get him, and because they endured so much scrutiny to have him on the team."
He concluded by saying:
"At some point, however, it shouldn’t be automatic that Watson will become the starter, not after missing so much time."
Jacoby Brissett can become a fan-favorite in the absence of Deshaun Watson
Many fans would be ecstatic to see Jacoby Brissett take the reins of the Browns offense and preclude Deshaun Watson from playing upon returning from suspension.
I’m just stating the obvious here but it’s going to be a weird day for the person whose job it is to give Deshaun Watson his first official team massage.
Brissett has thrived behind a top NFL offensive line, with skill position weapons like Nick Chubb, Amari Cooper, David Njoku, and Kareem Hunt. There's no reason why that can't continue in Cleveland. If Brissett can uphold his level of play to this point, he'll be a fan-favorite in no time.
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