Cleveland Browns Land Yet Another Miserable Prediction For 2024

The Cleveland Browns don't seem to be too popular heading into the 2024 NFL season.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson hands the ball off to Nick Chubb during OTA workouts on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 in Berea, Oh. | PHIL MASTURZO / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Cleveland Browns managed to win 11 games last season in spite of sifting through five different starting quarterbacks and their star running back getting knocked out for the year after Week 2.

So, with Deshaun Watson preparing to (hopefully) play his first full season with the Browns and with Nick Chubb on the mend, you would think that people would be pretty optimistic on Cleveland's chance of making some noise in 2024.

That certainly has not been the case.

For the second time in recent weeks, the Browns have been predicted to finish in last place in the AFC North division.

This time, Garrett Podell of CBS Sports provided the death knell for Cleveland, citing his complete lack of confidence in Watson—coupled with the return of Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow—as his primary reason why he expects the Browns to finish in the cellar.

While Podell acknowledges that Cleveland has a great defense, he thinks that Watson's inaccuracy as a passer will ultimately doom the Browns in 2024.

Here's the thing, though: Cleveland went 5-1 in Watson's six starts last season, and it definitely wasn't like the 28-year-old was playing particularly well. The Browns even went 6-5 in games not started by Watson, including a 4-1 mark in Joe Flacco's starts.

Ergo, if Cleveland's defense was good enough to earn the club double-digit wins in 2023, it's hard to imagine why the same scenario wouldn't occur in 2024.

Of course, the difficulty of the AFC North is a factor, but all four teams within the division had winning records last year, and the Browns still made the playoffs.