The Cleveland Browns currently ranks last in rushing yards, forcing Todd Monken to consider weaponizing his mobile quarterback’s athleticism to ignite a stagnant offense and fix early execution failures.
One of the telltale signs that Deshaun Watson was leading the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition was the fact that Todd Monken was incorporating plenty of designed and read-option-style runs for the veteran QB during training camp.
Between Watson and Shedeur Sanders, the former is notably considered the better athlete of the two, so it was fair to reason that after coaching Lamar Jackson for three years, Monken wanted to use his quarterback as a weapon in the run game.
Through these first two games, though, there haven't been too many option runs worked into the game plan, and even the designed ones have been few and far between. But with the run game struggling mightily out of the gate, utilizing the threat of Watson as a runner could help get it moving in the right direction.
As Monken explained, they've leaned on Watson occasionally with mixed results.
"We did spit a bubble screen out there that got us 10 [against the Buccaneers], we spit another one out there, lost three," Monken noted. "Certainly, some of the perimeter game, he’s converted some of those on third downs with his legs, certainly he’s athletic"
Ultimately, as Monken has reiterated in the lead-up to Week 3, he believes the run game struggles are more about coaching and execution than about how they're incorporating Watson into their plan.
“Each game plan has a slightly different flavor to it as we go into it, but ultimately, it’s about how we execute at the point of attack, and it’s been up and down, and everybody’s taking their turns, including us as coaches," he said. "We got to scheme it better, we got to plan it better, got to call it better, and then we certainly can execute better.”
Through the first two weeks of the season, Cleveland ranks dead last in the league in total rushing yards (131) and yards per carry before contact (.18), while ranking second-to-last in yards overall yards per attempt (2.9).
Even without the designed QB runs, Watson was the Browns leading rusher in both of their games so far, and he leads the team in rushing overall with 60 yards on 13 attempts. Quinshon Judkins is second with only 54 yards on 11 more attempts.
"That’s always going to be a part of our thought process every week, some weeks more than others," said offensive coordinator Travis Switzer of using Watson in more schemed up runs. "But you have got to be able to run the ball in a variety of ways. It can’t just be a quarterback-led run game."
There is hope that a Week 3 matchup with the Carolina Panthers can be a momentum builder for Cleveland's rushing attack. Entering Sunday, the Panthers have allowed a league-worst 224 yards rushing per game, and 6.3 yards per carry. Making matters worse for Carolina, they won't have standout linebacker Devin Lloyd in this game.
The Browns certainly need to get the run game going by any means necessary. Whatever that might look like for Watson, he's willing to do his part to get it on the right track.
“I think whatever we need to do to be able to try to get the run game explosive, because we have the backs that can run, we have the people that can tote the ball and get big yards for us, and that can definitely help our offense as a whole," he said. "So, I definitely agree with you. We just have to see how the game plan kind of goes throughout each and every week and see if that is something that’s appropriate for us to be able to run on Sundays.”
