The Cleveland Browns haven’t yet seen enough of quarterback Deshaun Watson, but it feels as though the end may be near.
Watson’s 23.9 QBR has him 31st in the NFL through four games and he leads the league in sacks taken, as opposing defenses have gotten home a whopping 19 times already. The advanced metrics hub Pro Football Focus lists the Browns QB as the 18th-best player at his position out of 34 signal-callers who have seen enough snaps to presently qualify for a ranking.
Of course, not all of that is Watson’s fault. The offensive line has been injured and otherwise generally abysmal, as 2023 starting tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. (left side) and Jack Conklin (right side) have appeared in just one game between them out of a possible eight.
But Watson struggled over the past two seasons as well, playing in just six games in both 2022 and 2023 and completing 59.8% of his passes for 14 TDs and 9 INTs across those 12 starts.
A league suspension was the cause for his first 11-game absence, and another new allegation of sexual assault has surfaced via a lawsuit filed in Texas in recent weeks. Watson’s second 11-game hiatus was due to a shoulder surgery last season, and injuries are an ever-present threat in the NFL.
The Browns are 1-3 this year and Watson has completed just 61.5% of his passes for 727 yards, 4 TDs and 3 INTs, as Cleveland’s pass offense lingers near the bottom of the league.
The franchise is trending toward a top-10 pick in 2025 and if it should get one, USA Today’s Browns Wire predicted on Friday, October 4, that the team will draft 22-year-old Colorado Buffaloes star quarterback Shedeur Sanders to replace Watson under center.
Browns Own 1st-Round Pick for First Time Since Deshaun Watson Trade
For the first time in a long time (since the catastrophic trade for Watson in 2022, to be exact), the Browns own the rights to most of their own draft in 2025.
Cleveland will make its own picks in rounds 1-4. The team also has a fifth-round pick and four sixth-round selections as of Friday.
“Sanders has played well enough to be in discussion for the first overall pick. Here he slides to the Browns at pick No. 5,” Browns Wire wrote in its mock draft. “The Browns possibly made [a] mistake with Watson. Here is a chance to correct it.”
Shedeur Sanders Leads FBS in Pass TDs, Completion Rate
Sanders, the son of NFL Hall of Fame cornerback and current Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, was a standout at CU in 2023 and has picked up this season where he left off.
Sanders finished last year having completed more than 69% of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 TDs and just 3 INTs despite a poor roster — and specifically a bad and undersized offensive line — around him. He also scored 4 TDs on the ground. The Buffaloes finished 4-8 in Sanders’ first year with the school.
However, Sanders and running partner Travis Hunter returned to Boulder in 2024 and have Colorado at 4-1 through five games and enjoying a bye this week before getting into the heart of a relatively manageable Big 12 Conference schedule.
The Buffaloes are likely to finish with several more wins this year than the last, perhaps even capping the season with a bowl game following the school’s first winning campaign since all the way back in 2016.
Sanders currently leads the FBS with a completion rate of 70.1% and 14 passing TDs, per Football Reference. He has also thrown for 1,630 yards compared to just 3 INTs.
