Does Deshaun Watson have a legitimate shot at returning as the Browns' starting quarterback?

Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Caroline Fenton and Jason Fitz discuss the possibility that Deshaun Watson could ultimately be the starting quarterback once again in Cleveland this season. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV.

Video Transcript

I would like to remind everybody that’s already anointed Shedeur Sanders as the starter in, in Cleveland, that Deshaun Watson is sitting there too.

Like, when we start talking about weird quarterbacks we’re not thinking about that could be starting games this year, Deshaun Watson has a very real chance to go out and win this job.

I mean, there’s a very real path- Mm-hmm to Deshaun Watson being the week one starter for the Cleveland Browns.

Like, everybody needs to just brace for it now.

We might have to figure out how to have a new conversation about Deshaun.

The quarterback that I least want to see this season and beyond, forever and ever, amen, is the quarterback who’s most likely to win the starting job, and that’s Deshaun Watson.

I won’t feel like I am missing anything in my life if I never see that man’s face or see him play football ever again.

But I think that’s just the reality of what’s happening in Cleveland.

Do you feel good about Dillon Gabriel?

Do you feel good about Shedeur Sanders?

Sure, you can feel optimistic and hopeful, but we don’t know if either of those two are starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Should I say Pro Bowl quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Thank you very much.

And also Todd Monken is coming into the building.

So any kind of goodwill any of these quarterbacks, or, for his sake, badwill, that any of these quarterbacks built up with the last coaching staff, erase all of that.

It is a totally and completely clean slate.

Todd Monken’s number one prerogative is to come into Cleveland and to win football games.

There is a chance, dare I say a likelihood, that Todd Monken believes that that man gives the Cleveland Browns the best chance to win football games.

So I don’t like it at all, but that’s the reality.

If I just take everything, the names off the back of the jerseys, and ask myself which guy do If we take everything we know about the drama and the personal issues for Deshaun, obviously, everything, all the accos- a- accusations, all the lawsuits, everything.

If we take all of it and just put it in a vacuum, and we ask ourselves which of the three quarterbacks in Cleveland is the best quarterback just playing the position, I think that’s gonna end up being Deshaun.

So I, I’m just sort of bracing myself now for this concept that Deshaun’s gonna come in and play.

And what gets really interesting is what happens if he plays pretty well.

Like, we’ve just presumed that the Browns are gonna move on.

I don’t know what all of that looks like.

I know that I could say this, and I’ve said it before, I’m glad I’m not a Browns fan because this would be an incredibly difficult thing to even try and figure out how to root for.

I’ve been, ever since they acquired Deshaun, that’s been my mindset.

But now you’ve got a Deshaun that’s come in that seems to have a bit of the yips, and has been constantly injured.

Can he get himself healthy?

Can he stay on the field?

If he can, can he beat out Shedeur?

I think so.

I think the best of Deshaun- Mm-hmm is better than the best of Shedeur.

And I’m not even sure, frankly, that, you know, mid Deshaun isn’t better than mid Shedeur.

So we’ll find out, but I think that Todd Monken owes it to the organization to try and, and go out and figure out what the best quarterback situation is.

But that’s difficult to do when we assign You know, we don’t live in a vacuum.

We don’t live in a situation where I could just take the name off the back of the jersey.

We live in a situation where- Mm-hmm Deshaun Watson could end up being the starting quarterback for Cleveland this year.

And I’m not sure they have a path to a better answer.

I don’t think Shedeur’s a better player.

So it’ll be really interesting to see if Todd Monken comes in and actually gives it to the best guy.

what does it look like?

Can Shedeur learn his offense and become the best of Shedeur?

I hope so.

Like, I would love for Shedeur to go out and, and truly be a Pro Bowl quarterback.

I just think Deshaun has a much better chance of winning this, this gig than we’re thinking about in this process.

So I think this is the beginning, not the end of the, of the conversation

Does Deshaun Watson have a legitimate shot at returning as the Browns’ starting quarterback?

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