Cleveland Browns LB Gets Highest Grade In Preseason Opener Versus Packers

The consensus from Pro Football Focus was that Browns rookie linebacker Nathaniel Watson was the highest graded Browns player during the game in the 23-10 preseason loss to the Green Bay Packers.

As the Cleveland Browns have found out, the first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers is hardly the most spectacular performance they could have put on, but many young players had a chance to get useful minutes on the field.

The Pro Football Focus organization is as famous for providing quality evaluations the players in a game, including the prosaic pre-season. Early on Sunday, they came out with their top five graded Browns players from the preseason opener against Green Bay. A linebacker shared the highest average with one of the receiving corps, though he got a slight nod for the top of the list.

To the astonishment of several fans, that linebacker is not Devin Bush, who made six tackles on Saturday and ran around doing everything. This time rookie Nathaniel Watson shot an 89. 5. The Mississippi State sixth-round pick only managed one tackle on the day and as such was nowhere near the top of the stat sheet. Obviously PFF saw something they liked in him as they graded him an excellent student.

“Bookie” Watson did drop out in the third quarter with what was termed as a quadriceps injury. It remains to be seen whether he will be available for this next week of practice and for the next preseason game. Hopefully this was just to be expected and the rookie is ready to return as soon as possible.

As for other players, who also came in the rating of PFF, the following can be mentioned: No3 on the list with 87 of PFF is a defensive tackle Chris Williams. 6, second-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was No. 3 with an 84. 1, starting cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. was No. 4 with a 77. 6 and backup tight end Jordan Akins was No. 9.

For all the players in the top five, they recorded 10 or more snaps in the game.

For another preseason game to be on an opponent team of NFC North, the Browns are up against Minnesota Vikings this coming Thursday; fans will be waiting on some updated reports on injuries later in the week. The Browns will therefore look to ‘squeeze’ through the next game with luck and also play as a team and have a better display.