Heading into the third season since trading for star quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns are hoping the former first-round pick can return to his best.
What's wrong with Deshaun Watson? That has been the question regarding the Cleveland Browns quarterback this offseason.
After his first two seasons in Cleveland haven't gone to plan, as he's missed time due to injuries and a suspension, combined with his less-than-stellar play when available, the pressure to perform is ramping up entering his third year as a Brown.
While everyone seemingly has their own answer as to what Watson's problem has been. A new stat revealed by Warren Sharp has identified accuracy as an issue with Watson's play.
Per Sharp, Watson leads the league with the "highest rate of incompletions due to inaccurate passes" at 43.9 percent, which even saw him trump his now-former replacement last season, Joe Flacco, who sat at 30.9 percent.
Even at a more surface level (not using advanced analytics), it can be seen that Watson has struggled through the air. Looking purely at his completion percentage, which through two seasons with the Browns stands at 59.8 percent, that is a subpar rate, considerably lower than the 67.8 mark that he set during his four seasons with the Houston Texans.
So what's causing this? Well, it could be a number of reasons. The most likely is that he is still trying to catch up from the year he took off from football in 2021. He sat out of that season because he wanted to be moved by the Texans.
Other issues could have been his shoulder injury and potentially a lack of understanding and comfortability within the Browns' offense.
Whatever the problem, the Browns must hope that it can be remedied this offseason. With expectations of becoming a true playoff contender, the Browns can ill-afford another lackluster year from Watson.
