Cleveland Browns players are hyping up Deshaun Watson at the sake of their credibility

Many are expecting Deshaun Watson to return to form as soon as the Cleveland Browns take the field in Houston.

There are many in the Cleveland sports media, the fandom, and the Cleveland Browns roster themselves who believe and expect Deshaun Watson to not only play well right away but to be as good as he ever was. Those expectations are huge, especially because no quarterback I can think of spent two years off and came right back to a team as a full-time starter.

Not even Kurt Warner, who famously was a bag boy at a grocery store and later went on to be the Super Bowl and league MVP in 1999. What people always forget is that Warner was in his second year with the Rams when that went down. Watson is coming in off of a near-two-year hiatus from the sport, having practiced very little and not playing at all.

Yet, people like M.J. Emerson and Donovan Peoples-Jones are talking about how good Watson has looked in practice, really giving Watson no leeway should he struggle out the gate. Should he stumble, however, it’ll be hard to ever take some of these guys at their word. We already know that most things a player says are sanitized and just off-center from reality, but putting your reputation on the line for a guy two years removed is certainly a new one.

They’re not the only ones doing this, Kevin Stefanski spoke highly of Watson but then again you’d be hardpressed to find a fan who really puts stock into anything he says anymore.

I fully expect Watson to struggle, it’s natural. He hasn’t been in a steady and consistent football environment with regular practices, drills, and conditioning since 2019.

This is in a lot of ways very new to him. Sure, he played in 2020 but nothing about that season was normal, not even the way teams practiced. So now you’re handing him a full workload, with the pressure of needing to win every game over the next six weeks to stay in the playoff hunt, while performing well and dealing with the fact that most of the world is actively rooting for your downfall; and people expect him to just play as he did in 2020?

And I thought I was rough on Watson.

The expectations of Deshaun Watson are wildly out of hand

The Cleveland Browns are not likely to win out or even go 5-1 over their last six. Watson isn’t so good that he can carry a bad defense, we saw that with the Texans in 2020. So I’m perplexed why so many people are expecting him to just walk in off the street and sling it like it was in 2018. The man’s body hasn’t reacclimated to the rigors of practice, let alone the games themselves.

I’m not sure why so many people who are Pro-Watson (as I am not) are setting him and themselves up for disappointment. If he were any other top-flight quarterback coming in after two years off, I would very much expect him to struggle as well. This is common sense; this is a violent and fast game and it takes time for your body to acclimate.

Maybe all of these people are wrapped up in their own subconscious feelings right now. Maybe they setting such lofty expectations because they want a reason to dislike him that isn’t going to get them attacked by the Watson-faithful in the fandom.

The man has two rebuilt knees, has been off for two years, has a pretty bad pass-blocking o-line (just like 2021), a couple of big pass catchers who are inconsistent at best, and a head coach who out-thinks himself multiple times a game.

No one should be this optimistic about him turning back into a Pro Bowler overnight. The odds aren’t in the Browns’ favor on this one, folks. If he doesn’t turn the ball over a bunch and isn’t accused of any more crimes; take it as a win.