Is Deshaun Watson an elite quarterback is a question in Cleveland Brown’s fans’ minds. During the 2020 NFL season, Deshaun Watson took a massive step toward making a case for being an elite quarterback. However his then team the Houston Texans did not match his elite play. Then head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien traded away his best weapon in DeAndre Hopkins. Despite not having the best offensive line Watson’s on-the-field play was spectacular.
Career Stats
Deshaun Watson will be entering his 5th year this upcoming season. During his tenure in the NFL, he accumulated an overall QBR of 104.5. Watson has racked up over 14,539 yards over his career. In addition, Deshaun has thrown 104 career touchdowns to just 36 interceptions. As a result of his high volume of touchdowns, he managed a completion percentage of 67.8% for his career. These numbers performed by him reached a massive bump because of his 2020 regular season stats.
2020 Season Stats
The most compelling evidence that Watson was a high-level quarterback is his 2020 season stats. For instance, the most impressive part of his play is that he wasn’t working with his usual cast of talent. He managed to elevate the play of mediocre guys. His leading receiver was Bradin Cooks. Therefore, he was 382-544 and his completion percentage was 70.2%. As well he threw for 4,823 total yards on an average of 8.9 yards a throw. Similarly, his touchdown to interception ratio was 33:7, his longest throw went for 77 yards and his quarterback rating for the year was 112.4.
PFF Stats
Throwing for 1,699 yards in 2017 which was 31st that year, 19 touchdowns tied for 18th, 8 interceptions, and his overall ranking was 68.1. In 2018 Watson threw 4,165 yards which was 11th for QBs, 26 touchdowns 12th among other QBs, to 9 interceptions which he tied at 23rd. After that in 2019 yards thrown were 3,852 13th, 26 touchdowns tied for 8th, and 12 interceptions tied for 11th. Above all other seasons, 2020 was a breakout year. Throwing for 4,823 yards which were 1st, 33 touchdowns 7th among quarterbacks. For the most part, Watson had been in the mid-’20s when it came to touchdowns. It then seems it all clicked for him in 2020.
Honorable Mention (Post Season)
During the 2018 postseason in just one game, Watson had 235 yards 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. For the 2019 season in two games, one game that the offense seemingly had a meltdown against the Kansas City Chiefs. Deshaun Watson put together a respectable postseason. Throwing for 635 yards 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Along with that he and the Houston Texans were just a half of football away from reaching the AFC championship game.
Takeaways
In conclusion, Deshaun Watson has been a high-level quarterback for years now. Going back to his college days winning a national championship with Clemson. For instance, going a game-winning drive against Alabama that year to win the title. His college coach Daboo Sweeney called him Micheal Jordan of football. He is a dynamic player that makes plays and can be a game changer. His best season to date came without a full supporting cast. By all means with this new Cleveland Browns team, he should be at that level again if not surpass it. Is Deshaun Watson elite? Let the numbers do the talking.
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