Starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, DeShaun Watson, is out for the season.

Watson has been battling a peculiar shoulder injury for weeks, and earlier this week, the team announced he would undergo season ending surgery.

This will dramatically alter how the Pittsburgh Steelers plan for the of their biggest games of the season, now facing rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

DTR, as some fans call him, has just one previous start under his belt in the National Football League. After Watson was a surprise last minute scratch in Week 4, DTR got the start in an ugly game for the Browns.

Cleveland earned a measly 3 points against the Baltimore Ravens that day, and while the offensive woes for the Browns were not all the rookie quarterback’s fault, he didn’t make things much easier for his team.

DTR completed 19/36 pass attempts for only 121 yards. He was picked off 3 times in a dominant day for the Ravens defense. He finished the day with a passer rating of 25.3.

Now, instead of starting backup QB PJ Walker, the Brows are turning back to DTR to keep the team afloat.

On the surface, the move doesn’t make a ton of sense. Walker had led the Browns’ offense well in Watson’s abrupt absences. He even led the team to an upset win over the 5-0 San Francisco 49ers, and stepped in early for Watson and helped the Browns beat the scrappy Indianapolis Colts.

But by starting DTR now, it gives the team a true chance to see what they have in their fifth round pick this spring. With Watson out for at least the rest of 2023, and given his health problems since arriving in Cleveland, it’s imperative that the Browns know where they stand with the rest of their quarterback room.

They know who PJ Walker is, they don’t yet know who DTR is.

However, it’s a move that is more common of a rebuilding/average team than one who is 6-3 and very alive in both the playoff and the division race. For a team who needs as many wins as possible, you would typically start who has been the best so far, and based on the results in 2023, that’s PJ Walker.

It also indicates that the Browns don’t have full faith in Watson. If DTR can be their guy in the future, then now is the time to find out. But if he’s not, and the Watson trade ultimately turns out to be a failure (which it is certainly trending that way), then they need to know what to look for in the upcoming drafts.

But it any sense, the Steelers need to make DTR feel uncomfortable early and often. The Ravens did a great job doing that, and their defense was rewarded with multiple turnovers.

DTR is a fast and mobile quarterback, something he showed off at college for UCLA. His talents on their own are very intriguing, which made him an easy pick for any NFL team looking to take a flyer on a QB.

TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith need to get after him early. In an ideal world, the Steelers could rack up a few sacks early in the game to have the QB looking over his shoulder at all times.

In his only other NFL start with the Ravens, DTR was sacked 4 times. The Steelers need at least that many, if not more, on Sunday.

Despite their possible woes in the passing game, the Browns can still run the ball. They rank second in the entire league in rushing yards per game, which is remarkable considering they lost star running back Nick Chubb back in Week 2, when these teams first met.

They are averaging 147.9 yards on the ground per game on the backs of Jerome Ford, Kareem Hunt, and Pierre Strong. They are an enormous threat in the running game, something the Steelers have struggled with during this season.

Even after Chubb went down with an ugly season-ending injury in Week 2, the Browns still ran the ball with ease against the Steelers defense.

It’s going to have to be an area of emphasis for Pittsburgh as they take on a battered Browns offense.

DTR, for what its worth, took off 4 times for 24 yards, including a 12 yard pick up, during his start with the Ravens. He’s not afraid to just take the ball and run with it, something that makes his game a little more dynamic.

This is a massive game for the Steelers, one that might make or break their fate both in the AFC North, and the playoff race. And now, with a rookie making just his second NFL start, that mission should get a lot easier.

But we all know it probably won’t, right?

(Featured photo by Ken Blaze-USA Today Sports)