Ruiter: 'Fairly confident' Deshaun Watson will be ready to go Week 1, but there's a bigger question that has to be answered

The future looks bright for the Cleveland Browns, but a lot of their success in the near term is hinging on not only the availability, but also the caliber of play Deshaun Watson can offer.

The veteran quarterback has yet to make much of an impact in Cleveland between his suspension and trouble with injuries. When Watson was at his peak in Houston, he had established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but hasn’t been able to re-discover that form.

With that in mind, it seems hugely important for Watson to have as close to a normal offseason as possible. His season ended in November last year when he had surgery to correct a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his throwing shoulder.

Watson indicated that he hopes to take part in OTAs and minicamp later in the offseason, but made sure to emphasize that he plans to play things conservatively at this juncture.

92.3 The Fan Browns reporter Daryl Ruiter said on It’s Always Gameday in Cleveland that it’s not so much Watson’s Week 1 availability he’s worried about, rather what level of player Watson can be.

“My personal view is he will be ready to go Week 1,” Ruiter said. “Whether or not that actually materializes remains to be seen. I don’t think there’s a danger of that. For me, the question about his availability is when he comes to the offseason program. Is he going to be available at OTAs? He said 'Yeah, there's a chance, but the doctors also are telling me to take this easy. So I am making sure if they tell me to take 40-60 reps, that’s what I do, I don’t do any more above and beyond that as to not delay the progress coming back.'

“So, I’m fairly confident that he’s going to play Week 1, my question when it comes to Deshaun are not about his availability in Week 1, it’s about how good is he going to be when he’s back on the field? That to me is the question that has to be answered.”

Browns GM Andrew Berry also said this week that he is expecting Watson will be good to go for Week 1.