Episode 8 | Deshaun Watson Special

This week, we take an in-depth look at the rise and fall of Deshaun Watson's career. There were a lot of points made and hot takes given but I am left not knowing exactly how to feel about Deshaun.

Let's start with my preconceptions on the topic. For some reason, I was under the impression that Deshaun was a middling quarterback with decent stats and a good team, comparable to Dak Prescott. Good not great, maybe better than average. Even at the time of the 'Deshaun sweepstakes', I was confused by the fervor with which teams seemed to be pursuing him and aghast at the final number that the browns settled on. But upon a second look, the hype was justified and then some.

This graph compares Deshaun's first 6 real playing years with other quarterbacks. You will notice that his fourth year is particularly interesting when compared to Pat Mahomes. While his first 3 years did not reach the highs, he seemed to have made the jump to lightspeed... and then he had to take two years off. When he came back, his play fell off a cliff while his guaranteed contract was the richest in history. His 5th year is almost identical to Baker's fifth year (the Browns have issues) but a fall like this cannot be entirely attributed to the team.

Before the break, he was on pace to be a career 100+ passer rating guy, an elite accomplishment. After the break, he can't even sniff 90. Obviously, the Browns are kicking themselves and people have probably lost jobs over this, but should they? The guy was on pace for an all-time career and still had plenty of upside and winning potential. Maybe it was simply time off, the game sped back up. Maybe it is the distraction of the criminal proceedings. Whatever the cause, his downfall should be studied for a long time.