NFL power rankings: Ranking every QB in the loaded AFC in 2022

NFL Power Rankings, AFC QB no. 6: Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

Although we haven’t seen anything from Deshaun Watson since the 2020 season, he is still capable of being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, much less the AFC.

It will be fascinating to see how Watson’s game is affected — if at all — by everything that has transpired over the last year.

He’s still obviously young and with massive upside on the field. At last we saw him and the Texans, things were going incredibly poorly but Watson was pulling his weight, at least statistically.

He threw for over 4,800 yards and 33 touchdowns as the Texans lost 12 games in 2020.

The way the Texans were being run at the time caused Watson to demand a trade. The Texans obviously refused, but that was before all of the allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.

Houston and the rest of the NFL waited for the entire 2021 season while the legal situation played out, and once it was determined that there would be no criminal charges against Watson, the ball started rolling on his NFL future.

The Cleveland Browns won the bidding war for his services, paying him a wild and unprecedented $230 million guaranteed contract over the next five years.

Talk about the potential of risk with whatever “reward” the Browns are able to get with Watson’s on-field play.

Clearly, they believe that he can help them win a Super Bowl quickly and keep them in contention for the foreseeable future.