Deshaun Watson Wins Comeback Player Of The Year
Could this be a comeback-style year for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson? Last season Watson only played five games due to injuries. He threw for 1,115 yards with 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in those five games and walked away with 4 wins. After his last game of the season, the Browns went on a quarterback carousel eventually landing Joe Flacco who took them on a Cinderella run and to the playoffs. While Flacco was playing some of his best ball, the defense got this team into the playoffs at the end of the day.
Now, Watson is the projected starter, the defense is looking just as good, Nick Chubb will be back from injury to take pressure off the run game, and Watson has a great wide receiver core featuring Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore. With this supporting cast if the team does well there is a good chance people will argue that he does not deserve the props, but leading a team with low expectations can result in this kind of attention. Draft Kings Sports Book's betting odds have Watson for CPOY at +2200 with the 6th best odds just ahead of Daniel Jones for perspective. If he has this kind of breakout season, I think Watson could throw for 4,200 yards, 30 touchdowns, and rush for 300 more, enough to win this award.
Kirk Cousins Has The Most Regular Season in Passing Yards
Kirk Cousins has something to prove this season. After spending many seasons in Minnesota he has put up good stats but has always fallen short in terms of team success. Starting in Atlanta he was clear-cut "the guy" and then the team surprised everyone by drafting Michael Penix at number 10 overall. Cousins quickly expressed his frustrations. While I do not think there is going to be any sort of competition for the starting job this season could make or break his future in the league as he has now hit the age of 35.
Cousins joined the Vikings with a record deal in 2018 for 4 years, $84 million, fully guaranteed. Cousins is 4th in passing yards since 2018, along with 2nd in completions, 3rd in touchdown passes, and 4th in QBR. Pretty good numbers for someone with only one playoff win.
He now has a fresh start in Atlanta who struggled offensively last year only averaging 18 points per game. Their passing game was particularly weak with only 207 pass yards per game, while their ground game covered 127 per game. Despite this, this offense has a lot of potential with a couple of big-name receivers such as Drake London and Kyle Pitts along with Bijan Robinson to relieve them with the run game.
Adding WR Darnell Mooney will give some support to this receiving core, and having someone who can distribute the ball consistently will also help. I think Cousins will take command of this offense to lead the league in yards with around 4,350 yards. FanDuel ranks Cousins at 11 for the best chance to lead the league in yards with +2000 odds.
Texans Finish Top 3 In Scoring Offensively and Defensively
If you read my post " Three Potential Sleeper Teams For The 2024 NFL Season " you know how highly I speak of the Texans this year. I believe behind the 49ers they have the best roster in the league and may be above the Niners if they lose Brandon Aiyuk. I believe their team is so well-rounded and here is why:
To start, their team is super young, which has many benefits including a brighter future and lowering the risk of having star players get injured. When I say their star players are young my point is proven by the fact that Houston is home of the 2024 NFL OROY and DROY: CJ Stroud and Will Anderson. On top of that, their offense includes 25-year-old Nico Collins and rookie Tank Dell who last year combined for over 2,000 yards and 15 TDs.
The additions they made this offseason are what pushed this team from good to scary. Offensively they signed running back Joe Mixon to assist Dameon Pierce in the backfield tandem. Defensively they added Danielle Hunter, a fabulous pass rusher with 16.5 sacks last season, to go along with a Houston 46-sack defense in 2023.
With all these superstars on this team, there is no reason the Texans couldn't go 14-3 this season. I see them averaging just north of 30 points per game this season while giving up around 18.
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