While many are ready to close the door on Deshaun Watson, Todd Monken still hopes he can play at a Pro Bowl level for the Browns.
With Kyler Murray officially winning the Minnesota Vikings quarterback competition, all eyes now turn to the Cleveland Browns, where Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are duking it out to be Todd Monken’s Week 1 starter.
On paper, the idea of playing a 30-year-old, injury-prone quarterback on a team that projects to be gunning for a premium pick in 2027 is somewhat counterintuitive. But for Monken, the goal appears to be setting his team up for long-term success, with quarterback being the most important piece of that puzzle.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Monken noted that while Watson hasn’t produced great results in Cleveland thus far, he still believes the veteran quarterback can return to his Pro Bowl form.
“Well, first of all, I would never put limitations on a player. I’d hate that he would do that. Why can’t he be? Why can’t he play like that? I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet,” Monken said. “I’m not going to say he can’t until I see it. I’ve seen a lot of really good things over the course of the four or five months I’ve been here. I’m not going to put that on him. If he thinks he can’t play like that, that’s on him. I think he’s done a lot of really good things athletically, making plays that we’re going to get a chance to see, because we’re not live. We’ll see if that comes to play when we get out there and go.”
Monken also commented on the changes Watson has made to his actual game, noting that, for a player that has relied so heavily on athleticism, it’s hard to play at the highest level if that isn’t available to him.
“I think you have to be who you are. If you’re trying to be something you’re not, you’re not going to play at the highest level for your skillset,” Monken noted. “So, it’s just the way it is with him. He’s going to have to utilize his athleticism in order to play at the top of his skill set. Now, can he learn how to slide? Of course. Can he get better at throwing the ball away? Of course. But one of his superpowers is his athleticism. I mean, that always has been. So, you can’t take that away or you’ve basically taken away a part of what made him special.”
Is there a world where Watson can put it all together? Could injuries and off-field issues really have weighed on Watson’s ability to match his level of play from Houston, and now that he’s healthy, he could make waves like it’s 2020 all over again? While many pundits are ready to throw in the towel on Watson and simply move on from the 30-year-old in favor of seeing what Sanders has to offer, it’s clear Monken still believes in his $230 million quarterback.
With Kyler Murray officially winning the Minnesota Vikings quarterback competition, all eyes now turn to the Cleveland Browns, where Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are duking it out to be Todd Monken’s Week 1 starter. On paper, the idea of playing a 30-year-old, injury-prone quarterback on a team that projects to be gunning for a premium pick in 2027 is somewhat counterintuitive.
