Who is the Browns’ Backup QB in Week 4 With Deshaun Watson Out?
By Tyler Maher
Cleveland Browns fans received some terrible news on Sunday morning regarding Deshaun Watson. The star quarterback was officially ruled out for Week 4's game against the Baltimore Ravens with a shoulder injury, which had limited him at practice all week and was hampering his throwing ability.
With Watson out, the Browns will turn to their backup quarterback to lead the offense on Sunday.
With Deshaun Watson not being healthy enough to play today, the Browns rookie fifth-round pick QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson now is expected to start vs. the Ravens.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2023
Who is Browns Backup Quarterback?
Cleveland's backup quarterback is Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who may be an unfamiliar face to many Browns fans.
Thompson-Robinson, also known as DTR for short, is a rookie. Cleveland drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft (140th overall) this past spring out of UCLA, where he enjoyed a successful five-year collegiate career.
DTR is 23 years old and is a native of Columbia, South Carolina. He was initially expected to be the Browns' third-string quarterback this year behind Watson and Joshua Dobbs, but he was elevated to QB2 following Cleveland's late-August trade of Dobbs to the Arizona Cardinals, who needed a quarterback to replace Kyler Murray.
Thompson-Robinson has never started an NFL game before, so he is still extremely unproven. He did come in towards the end of Week 3's win over the Tennessee Titans, a 27-3 blowout where Watson sustained his shoulder injury. DTR played 5 snaps but did not attempt any passes, so his first throw this week will be his first ever in an NFL game.
If the Browns had known Watson was going to be unavailable for this game, they likely would have pulled him sooner and given DTR more reps last week. Now he must try to hold his own against former MVP Lamar Jackson and a stout Ravens defense, which is a tough ask for any quarterback.
Time will tell if Thompson-Robinson is up to the challenge, but the odds appear stacked against him in this difficult matchup given his lack of experience.
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