At the NFL owners’ meetings last week in Arizona, Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken had quite the week, but amongst all of the situations that happened, he had a pretty interesting quote about one of his quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson.
Monken had mentioned that he really had not watched much of Watson’s past film, and it was a very straightforward response to the question about his quarterback room. On Monday, ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi followed up with the question, and Monken provided a very detailed answer.
In it, he mentioned that he had seen a lot of crossover tape on Watson when he was working with the Baltimore Ravens. The Browns’ offense would show up on tape as Monken was preparing the Ravens offense for whatever opponent they were getting ready to face. Monken referenced the Dallas Cowboys tape that was “absolutely not” one of Watson’s best performances.
Monken further explained himself by saying that a full and final evaluation on Watson based on his past tape would be “unfair” because he doesn’t know the system that he was being taught and all of the details he was working off of.
He finished by saying, with a broad brushstroke, that in the past he has seen a really good player in Deshaun Watson, and he is hoping to be able to tap into that version of him, just as he is with Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
From a coaching perspective, this is a fine approach to this quarterback situation. Monken knows who his guys are that he has at his disposal, and the truth is that none of the three has done much good in their time in Cleveland. It’s not like he has to watch the tape to discover new wrinkles he needs to add to his playbook because of continued success.
He knows that he signed up for one of the bottom quarterback rooms in the league, and it is his job to make one of them serviceable.
It is very likely that the Browns will go into the season with Watson and Sanders in the lead spots to go for the starting role and then Dillon Gabriel in the background as a third-string backup. Who is in the pole position right now depends on where you get your information. Some people say that Sanders is in the top spot, while others say that it is Watson’s job to lose.
The Browns’ offseason program begins on April 7th, and we will start to see where everything is stacking up as of right now. Regardless of how it shakes out, the Browns are in for yet another entertaining season at the quarterback position.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns HC Todd Monken tells why he hasn’t watched Deshaun Watson tape
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
