Monken’s Potentially Greatest Coaching Feat: Elevating Browns, Watson

The Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay trees have blossomed a number of notable "offensive guru" NFL  coaches.

That group obviously includes Shanahan and McVay themselves, and names like Matt LaFleur, Mike LaFleur, Kevin O'Connell, Liam Coen, Zac Taylor, Mike McDaniel and Klint Kubiak.

Todd Monken isn't one of them, but the first-year Cleveland Browns coach should have the same acclaim as that group after the latest and perhaps greatest masterpiece of his coaching career: leading the Deshaun Watson-quarterbacked Cleveland Browns to a 3-1 start and first place in the AFC North.

Monken's marvels

Monken has flashed many flourishes of brilliance. As Oklahoma State's offensive coordinator, he helped quarterback  Brandon Weeden (22nd overall pick in 2012 NFL Draft ) and receiver  Justin Blackmon (5th overall pick in 2012 NFL Draft) power their squad to a 23-3 record as college football's most electrifying passing tandem.

In 2018, Monken worked as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers  offensive coordinator. The Buccaneers went 5-11, but it wasn't because of his offense -- Tampa Bay's defense surrendered 29 points per game, the second-most in the NFL that season. Monken cobbled together the league's No. 12 scoring offense (24.8 points per game) with a quarterback platoon of Jameis Winston  and Ryan Fitzpatrick . Collectively, Monken squeezed a combined 5,125 yards passing and 36 passing touchdowns out of the two of them.

As the Georgia Bulldogs offensive coordinator from 2020 to 2022, he helped quarterback Stetson Bennett go from a walk-on to a two-time national championship-winning passer across the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Yes, those Bulldogs squads had an embarrassment of NFL first-round draft picks among their defensive players in those years, but Monken's Bennett-led offenses put up the ninth-most points in college football in 2021 (38.6 points per game) and the fifth-most in 2022 (41.1 points per game).

Monken's magic helped lift  Baltimore Ravens  quarterback  Lamar Jackson  to new heights. Jackson won the 2023 NFL MVP under Monken, but the peak came the following year in 2024 when he earned first-team All-Pro honors despite finishing as the MVP runner-up to  Josh Allen . Jackson completed the 2024 regular season with the following all-time production: 4,172 yards passing, a 41-4 passing-touchdown-to-interception ratio, 915 yards rushing and a 119.6 passer rating. That means Jackson finished the 2024 regular season with the following firsts, per CBS Sports Research:

- 4,000 or more passing yards and 600 or more rushing yards - 40 or more passing touchdowns and 800 or more rushing yards - 40 or more passing touchdowns and fewer than five interceptions - Reigning MVP with at least 40 or more passing touchdowns the following season

Jackson's 119.6 passer rating ranked as the fourth-most all-time in a season, trailing only three occurrences that resulted in NFL MVP accolades: Rodgers in 2011 (122.5) and 2020 (121.5) and Manning (121.1) in 2004.

Lamar Jackson, 2024 season NFL QB rank

Pass TD-INT

41-4

1st

Pass TD 41 T-2nd

Pass yards

4,172

6th

Pass yards/attempt

8.8

1st

Rush yards

915

1st

Yards/carry

6.6

1st

Passer rating

119.6

1st

Expected Points Added (EPA)/Dropback 0.31 1st

Saving Deshaun Watson's career is the greatest coaching performance yet

All of those feats of coaching acumen are strong, but none is as incredible as what Monken is doing as a first-time NFL head coach in Cleveland. The Browns are 3-1 and in sole possession of first place in the AFC North for the first time with Deshaun Watson as their quarterback.

The last time they were in first place in the division was Sept. 22, 2022, when Watson was still suspended by the NFL for his off-field legal issues . How miraculous has their 3-1 start been this season? They have won three consecutive games, all as an underdog for the first time since 2001, per CBS Sports Research, and Watson is now only the second Browns quarterback with a game-winning drive in three straight weeks since 1950. Only he and Brian Sipe in 1979 have done so as Cleveland quarterbacks in that span.

Watson entered the 2026 season a broken man, on and off the football field. Watson sat out the entire 2021 season while dealing with the fallout from demanding a contract/trade and being sued over 20 times in civil court for sexual misconduct. Cleveland still traded a package of draft picks, highlighted by three first-round selections, and then extended him on a five-year, $230 million deal that was fully guaranteed. Watson only played 19 games across his first four seasons in Cleveland because of a season-ending shoulder injury and two Achilles tears. In those 19 games, he profiled as statistically one of the NFL's worst passers, ranking in the bottom five in the NFL in multiple efficiency statistics among the 50 quarterbacks who had thrown 500-plus passes from 2022 to 2025.

Deshaun Watson ranks with Browns (2022-2025), Among 50 QBs with 500-plus pass attempts since 2022 NFL rank

Expected points added (EPA) per dropback

-0.19

49th*

Yards per dropback

4.9

49th

Pass yards per start

177.1

47th

* Only Zach Wilson ranked worse than Watson among 50 QBs with 500-plus passes from 2022 to 2025

So, how is Monken getting Watson to play like a league-average starter at the age of 31 off of two Achilles tears? He is doing a great job highlighting Watson's strengths and coaching the hell out of his young, revamped supporting cast. Monken simplified Cleveland's offense for Watson with a couple of key elements. No quarterback has a higher rate of lining up in shotgun than Watson's 71.9% rate, and he is maximizing the remaining mobility Watson still possesses, utilizing run-pass option plays for his quarterback at the fourth-highest rate in the league, 11.8%.

Essentially, Monken is drawing on his years as a collegiate offensive coordinator to create a simplified, college-style offense to get Watson back to the basics as a quarterback. Pairing that scheme with a completely revamped offensive line with five new full-time starters and a trio of young pass catchers -- 2026 first-round pick wide receiver KC Concepcion , 2026 second-round pick Denzel Boston and 2025 third-round pick tight end Harold Fannin Jr. -- also helps, and Monken also deserves plenty of credit for successfully pairing his offensive youth movement with a quarterback who looked like his football career was on its last legs entering the season.

Deshaun Watson, 2026 season NFL QB ranks

Completion percentage

69.6%

8th

Pass yards per attempt

7.4

11th

TD-INT ratio

6-2

T-15th

Passer rating

101.2

14th

Expected points added (EPA) per dropback

0.11

14th

As the three consecutive wins and the overall 3-1 record this season show, Monken's game plan is working. Watson looks like a capable NFL quarterback again, which is truly Monken's greatest football magic trick yet.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/todd-monken-deshaun-watson-first-place-browns-2026/)._