The Falcons are currently leading the NFC South after a strong win over the Panthers on Sunday, making fans in Atlanta excited about the team again. However, there’s a troubling scenario involving Deshaun Watson that could have been disastrous.
I have mentioned this before, and I will keep saying it. Arthur Blank and everyone involved in Atlanta’s interest in Watson should be held accountable.
First, the serious allegations against him are concerning and would have turned away some fans. Second, he has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.
Watson dropped back 28 times against the Eagles, who have one of the weaker defenses, and he only gained 144 yards. The Browns didn’t score a touchdown and only made it to the red zone once during the whole game.
Currently, Deshaun Watson has the lowest total QBR in the league at 21.5, with Will Levis being the next closest at 28.3. According to ESPN, since 2007, among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts in their first six games, Watson’s performance ranks 558th out of 566.
Another interesting fact from The Ringer is that through the first six weeks of this season, Watson has a shocking -66.2 EPA on dropbacks, which is the lowest in this millennium, even worse than Russell Wilson’s -62.8 EPA in 2009.
While we can’t be sure Watson would perform this poorly with the Falcons, he wouldn’t be the same standout player he was with the Texans. The Browns share some blame for their struggling offense, but Watson is a key factor in their problems.
The Falcons, especially Arthur Blank, should feel fortunate that the Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed contract a while back; otherwise, they might be in a similar situation as Cleveland.
I’m relieved that the Falcons didn’t acquire Deshaun Watson, but Arthur Blank deserves criticism, and the entire Falcons organization should regret pushing out Matt Ryan to go after him.
