Coming out of the 2026 NFL Draft, one of the biggest quarterback stories is that Deshaun Watson appears in line to be the starting quarterback in Week 1 for the Cleveland Browns over Shedeur Sanders. With that, Browns analyst Tony Rizzo seemed hopeful about Watson, but did mention one glaring red flag: his health.
Deshaun Watson Is in Line To Be the Week 1 Starting Quarterback
Before we dig into Rizzo’s comments, let’s back up to when Watson landed in Cleveland and what happened since.
Coming off a massive scandal accusing Watson of sexual misconduct and assault during massage sessions, the Browns not only traded three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and two fourth-round picks to the Houston Texans for him, but they also signed him to a record-setting five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
Since then, Watson has started just 19 games in four seasons, has a 9-10 record, and has completed 61.2% of his passes for 3,365 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
The time he’s missed has included a double-digit-game suspension, a shoulder fracture in 2023, and a torn Achilles in 2024, which he re-tore again in January 2025.
His PFSN QB Impact score in 2024 was 51.1, which ranked 39th in the league and dead last among all quarterbacks graded that season. It was lower than Spencer Rattler, Will Levis, and others.
Now, coming off a twice-torn Achilles, Watson has “taken the lead over Shedeur Sanders in the Browns QB competition and has the inside track to win it,” according to “Cleveland.com” Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot.
She also added that Sanders has about six weeks, but has “plenty of ground to make up” to overtake Watson.
With this, Rizzo of “ESPN Cleveland” discussed Watson, noting that he first and foremost has to stay healthy. However, Rizzo followed that up with, “and I don’t know if he could do that.”
“I know this, when that guy is right, he can play, at a very, very high level,” – Rizz on the reports that Deshaun Watson is leading Shedeur Sanders right now. https://t.co/7GTyrakIOr pic.twitter.com/MxhRhxQkRH
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) April 30, 2026
As mentioned, Watson has dealt with numerous devastating injuries since arriving in Cleveland.
From there, he went on to say, “But don’t act like you don’t know Deshaun can play.”
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Across those 19 starts, Watson is averaging 177.1 passing yards and one passing touchdown per game. In 2024, he failed to surpass 196 passing yards in any game. The best game of his Browns tenure came in Week 3 of 2023 when he completed 81.8% of his passes for 289 yards, 2 touchdowns, and zero interceptions in a 27-3 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Rizzo then went on to say that Watson got “all messed up in his head and looked like crap for three years.” He then added that he didn’t think that was the guy they were going to get when he came over in the trade from Houston.
“But I know this. When that guy’s right, he can play at a very, very high level,” Rizzo finished.
In his final season in Houston in 2020, Watson went to the Pro Bowl after completing 70.2% of his passes for 4,823 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions.
The last time Watson took a snap in a regular-season game for the Browns was October 20, 2024, which was Week 8 of that season. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
