Deshaun Watson Challenges Patrick Mahomes Ahead of Final Preseason Game

The quarterback matchup between the Browns and Chiefs may or may not start out on Saturday afternoon as Deshaun Watson against Patrick Mahomes. That’s all up to Kansas City coach Andy Reid’s discretion. The Browns quarterback, though, didn’t need a random preseason game to find himself in the same sentence as Mahomes.

That happened naturally when the two were members of the quarterback draft class of 2017, when Mahomes was taken No. 10 overall and Watson was selected No. 12. Since then, Mahomes has gone on to win two Super Bowl championships and two NFL Most Valuable Player awards. He’s also set the bar that even his fellow 2017 draftee admits has everyone else chasing.

“I mean he’s doing a hell of a job and you’ve got to give him credit, you’ve got to nothing but salute to him and what he’s been doing and what he’s going to continue to do,” Watson said Wednesday of Mahomes. “He just makes everyone else around him better”.

“So he’s definitely the standard for the NFL and you’ve just got to continue to just keep building that up, especially being in the 2017 draft class together. … So both of us have a lot to prove and we want to continue to just show that we’re one of the top — us two — classes that have been drafted.”

That’s where the onus falls to Watson. Now in his second year with his second team, having been traded to the Browns from the Houston Texans 18 months ago, he’s looking to regain the form that made him one of the league’s top quarterbacks between 2018-20.

“If you’re asking me, I haven’t played ball, I haven’t played enough football the last two years to even be up there,” Watson said. “So I’ve got to go out there and prove and show what I’ve got to do to get back in those conversations. But for me, I’ve just got to lock in on what I need to lock in on and just focus on my tasks and everything else will take care of itself.”