It’s usually a good sign of progress when you learn that Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has given the green light for his quarterback Deshaun Watson to find some new offensive plays unique to the quarterback.
Reports out there say that Watson has been going through old plays and new ones he’s been studying of other team’s and the coach and quarterback plan on using in the team’s new offense this season.
𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧:
The #Browns HC Kevin Stefanski is "fully revamping" the Cleveland offense tailored towards Deshaun Watson's skillset.Stefanski has assigned Watson an offseason assignment of finding plays he likes from past systems or from other teams to improve the passing game pic.twitter.com/zDkXedQSMN
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) July 5, 2023
This certainty is another indication of Stefanski’s growth as a coach. He’s been considered a player’s coach and this is another example of that as well.
Stefanski likely sees that part of the key to victory is via his quarterback. Obviously the price tag of $235 million guaranteed to Watson has some factor in this latest step.
Baker and Stefanski and Trust
We never saw this type of decision making between the coach and the Browns former quarterback Baker Mayfield.
There may have been very good reasons for that back then as there have been numerous reports of Mayfield changing the play calls in the huddle.
Not having a trusting relationship especially with the two most important people on the team is always going to end badly.
Now though, with Watson under center, Stefanski seems like he’s much more confident moving forward. By giving Watson more buy-in to the process hopefully the team is setting up for a serious run at the postseason and that elusive Super Bowl.
Maybe a Super Bowl appearance is asking too much at this point. I mentioned in a previous article that Cleveland hadn’t won a division title since 1989. Yikes!
Watson had some fantastic seasons with his old team of the Houston Texans. They made the playoffs in both 2018 and 2019. Prior to that when he was quarterback at Clemson, his team won the National Championship in 2016.
Having Watson interject some of the old plays from his past is a win for the Browns.
Stefanski and Awareness
Stefanski has recognized in the past how to use his quarterback and he and Watson should only work better together as this upcoming season gets underway.
Back when Stefanski was coaching Mayfield, he knew that Mayfield did best when you allowed him to roll out of the pocket. At the start of the 2020 season, the Browns got beat up by the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. The team had a quick turnaround as they played the Cincinnati Bengals on a Thursday Night Game.
As you might recall, the fan base was very nervous and upset with the previous game’s outcome.
But Stefanski surprised those fans and the Bengals by giving Mayfield ample opportunity by throwing the ball and rolling him out of the pocket. It worked as the Browns beat the Bengals handily that night.
I’m not sure how this new season will work out, but hearing that Watson is bringing in new plays and that the coach is on board is a good indication that good things for this team are about to take off.
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