Chad Johnson ‘confused’ by Deshaun Watson’s play: ‘Never seen a decline at such a fast rate’

Is it time to bench Deshaun Watson ? A growing number of people think so.

The Cleveland Browns quarterback faces heavy scrutiny after a series of bad performances this season, so bad that it even left former players turned sports media personalities Shannon Sharpe and former Cincinnati Bengals star Chad "OchoCinco" Johnson perplexed.

The Browns lost their third consecutive game Sunday, a 34-13 loss to the Washington Commanders. It's likely that Browns fans have started to regret Watson's 2022 trade from the Houston Texans, as well as the Browns restructuring Watson's contract for a third time.

Chad Johnson left 'confused' at Deshaun Watson's decline

Sharpe and Johnson spent a lot of time marveling at Watson's play this season on their "Nightcap" podcast recapping Week 5 . And by marveling, we mean being dumbfounded by his rapid decline.

“I’m confused. I’ve been watching football for a very long time," Johnson said to Sharpe. "The nosedive I’ve seen … from maybe a top-3 quarterback when he was with the Texans to the version of Deshaun Watson I’m seeing now, how? In such a short amount of time, how?”

Sharpe echoed the decline, noticing a stark difference in Watson's performance. "He don’t even move the same...I think [injuries] weigh a lot on his mind. He hasn’t been the same," Sharpe said. "His last year starting in Houston, he led the NFL in passing yards. Deshaun, he’s a bottom-five quarterback."

Sharpe even went so far as to compare Watson to Ben Simmons, the onetime NBA Rookie of the Year and all-NBA player who has fallen off the last two seasons.

Johnson and Sharpe are right—Watson is being outplayed by rookies

If ESPN's QBR ratings are any indication, Watson is the worst quarterback in the NFL this season. The power rankings show that even rookies are putting up a better performance. Watson, who has faced woes on and off the field , has been sacked 26 times after only five games. When he's not getting sacked, he's more of a detriment than a benefit to the Browns' offense.

Despite calls to sit Watson, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has no plans of benching him , emphasizing that he was not making a quarterback change in favor of Jameis Winston. Heading into Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the pressure builds for Watson not to remain the starter this time around.

"I have to coach better," Stefanski said in a virtual press conference . "As offensive coaches, we have to coach better. As players, we have to play better. Deshaun can play better, he will play better. He's had some, obviously, good moments, and then there's some times that we have to play better around him. He's committed to getting better. We're committed as an offense to putting our guys in position to succeed."

As for Watson, he's blocking out the criticism .

"First off, I don't hear it, I don't see it. So, I'm not on Twitter, I'm not on any social media or things like that. So anytime that stuff comes up, the only time I first hear it is either you guys are bringing it up or somebody else outside, and I just don't know who it's coming from," he said in response to the backlash. "I mean, for the outside people and the media, yeah, it might be loud, but for myself, I got to make sure I'm locked in and trying to do whatever I can to get all of us on the same page to play winning football."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Chad Johnson ‘confused’ by Deshaun Watson’s play: ‘Never seen a decline at such a fast rate’