Todd Monken on Deshaun Watson: "Unfair" to give him a grade before the exam

Deshaun Watson has not played in a game since October 2024 due to a torn Achilles.

But he's still under contract with the Browns in 2026 and at this point, it appears Cleveland is ready to give him another shot at being the starting quarterback.

To put it mildly, Watson has been ineffective since the Browns traded form him in the 2022 offseason. Between injuries and suspensions, he’s played just 19 games since the trade, completing 61.2 percent of his passes for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

It’s a far cry from the elite player Watson appeared to be during the 2020 season, when he finished with a league-leading 4,823 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 70.2 percent completion rate. That was also before Watson was suspended for sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.

Still, because Watson has played at a high level before, new head coach Todd Monken said on Wednesday that he’s interested in seeing whether Watson can get back to that level of performance.

“I think anytime that you have a player that at one time has exhibited the skillset at an elite level, I think you're always going to give them the benefit of the doubt that somehow we might be able to get that out of him again,” Monken said in his press conference at the scouting combine. “And I think that's how you should look at every player. I've said that. You guys have heard me say it. I'm going to let it play out.

“I think it'd be completely unfair just like it would be in any classroom setting — be it a history exam — and all the students walk in, and before they're actually given the exam, you give them a grade. Well, how would you give them a grade? Based on male, female, race, how they look, how they're dressed? I think that's unfair.”

Effectively, Monken was saying that he’d like to work with Watson and see what’s there for himself. But that does’t mean he’s going to completely disregard the tape.

“Now you're going to have some preconceived notions, obviously, because we have prior evidence, but I don't decide who plays,” Monken said. “The players decide who plays. I've never decided who plays.”

There’s also the possibility that Monken may provide a fresh perspective that could raise Watson’s performance.

“You'll have to ask him. I don't know how he'll view that,” Monken said. “I know that I'm excited to work with him. I'm excited to work with all of our players on the roster. That's what you're paid to do as a coach. Just like [G.M.] Andrew [Berry is] going to trust what we call on fourth-and-1, I'm going to trust him that we're going to put an elite roster together that allows us to build a consistent winner.”