Rich Reacts to the Browns Sticking with Deshaun Watson as Their Week 2 Starting QB

Rich went with Jacksonville in his survivor pool, and he was honest about why. It was not only that he likes what the Jaguars are cooking. It was that he has zero confidence in Deshaun Watson.

"A vote of no confidence, if you will."

The stat line does not look disastrous on paper. Watson went 16 of 22 for 205 yards with 38 more on the ground, and he found Denzel Boston for a touchdown late. Rich filed that score where it belonged.

"That was the equivalent of the old A-Rod solo shot, Yankees down eight in the ninth inning."

It was a nice throw. It was also a 24 point blowout that Rich said was effectively decided inside the first 10 minutes, with his survivor pick already in a rocking chair.

What makes the quarterback question sharper is that the rest of the roster is pointed in a completely different direction. Trading Myles Garrett for Jared Verse is a statement of intent, and Rich thinks it is the right one. Cleveland has the reigning defensive rookie of the year in Verse and Mason Graham up front, a Wolverine, which Rich was happy to mention. On offense there is Harold Fannin, Quinshon Judkins, Denzel Boston and Kevin Concepcion, with Jerry Jeudy as the elder statesman of that receiver room. David Njoku was allowed to walk.

That is a young football team with a problem at the most important position, and the reason is not a football reason.

"As Marcus Spears said an hour or two ago, there's 250 million reasons why Deshaun Watson's getting the start," Rich said. The contract is fully guaranteed and this is its last year. Let's see what he's got.

Cleveland may have picked the wrong opponent to go looking. Trevor Lawrence is genuinely on the rise, and once Josh Hines-Allen and that Jacksonville defense start putting teams in a stranglehold, Rich thinks the Jaguars have a real path to a Super Bowl.

Which leads to the part that should sting most in Cleveland, and it has nothing to do with Sunday.

The Browns traded the rights to draft Travis Hunter. The team they traded them to was Jacksonville, picking in the top five of that same draft, moving up exactly one spot. That franchise had just hired Liam Coen and installed a new front office, and it was sitting in the identical position Cleveland is in now. Not sure about the general manager. Not sure about the coach. Reasonably sure about the quarterback, without knowing for certain.

Jacksonville hired a coach connected to its quarterback, started building with the pieces it had, and won 13 games. The Jaguars are defending a division title.

Cleveland, in Rich's words, is on the same treadmill of crap. He liked the phrase enough to suggest it as a fantasy team name, and then extended it when the Week 2 opponent came up. Baker Mayfield would love nothing more than to send the Browns home with that treadmill set to 10 speed and 10 incline.

Todd Monken was asked after the game whether he was sticking with Watson, and his answer was less a defense of the quarterback than a refusal to accept the premise.

"I'm sure as hell not firing me. I'm not firing our staff. I'm not getting rid of all of our players. So he happens to be one of 53," Monken said. "We'll analyze everything that we do. It's not just him. We're putting this on Deshaun, which is unfair."

He was equally direct about everything happening outside the building. "Whatever there is externally doesn't matter to me. That doesn't affect me. That has nothing to do with my decision making. My decision making is what's best for the Browns now and moving forward."

Monken did add that he understands the frustration, and that he did not take the job to lose.

Rich liked the answer, and said so. Monken has since reviewed the film and named Watson the starter in Tampa.

"I'm not the coach. I'm not an all-22 expert," Rich said. If Monken sees a throw that should have been made, or sees that the reason it was not made had to do with a route or a protection rather than physical limitation, that is his call to make.

But there is a ceiling on how long the outside noise can stay outside. Browns fans cheered when Watson got hurt a couple of years ago. Watson is still angry about it, lashed out at the entire fan base with a broad brush, and later walked it back with an apology after Monken named him the starter anyway. Rich does not blame him for carrying the grudge. He also does not think the wall holds.

"The external affects the internal of Deshaun Watson. It's been established with his comments."

So the number to watch is the point differential. Cleveland sits at minus 24. If the Browns come home from Tampa anywhere near minus 50, the conversation changes whether Monken wants it to or not. Everyone is already asking whether Game 3 is Shedeur Sanders, and some are asking whether Game 2 should have been.

Underneath it is a question about fit rather than talent. Monken is 60. John Harbaugh, the coach who hired him in Baltimore, is a couple of years older, and he is currently coaching up Malik Nabers with Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo running around like Tango and Cash.

Rich wonders what happens when Cleveland pairs its young roster with an age peer at quarterback. Sanders with Judkins and Fannin and Boston and Concepcion is at least a version of the future.

It will not happen against Tampa.