You had to like what Browns second-year quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson did in the 23-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Saturday at Cleveland Browns Stadium in the preseason opener.

He was clearly the best player on the field for the Browns, and it wasn’t even close.

The offensive and defensive lines, playing mostly backups, if not almost exclusively backups, left a lot to be desired, though. They were just awful.

It will get better on those units. It has to, right? Some of those guys may be forced to play some in games during the regular season, because injuries occur. You just can’t get around it.

But getting back to Thompson–Robinson, the quarterbacks are the real takeaway of this game, this preseason and this regular season. I like him — how can you not like that arm? — and I like the other two backups, Tyler Huntley and even Jameis Winston, to a certain degree. 

The guy I don’t like is the starter, Deshaun Watson. As we’ve said all along and will continue to say, the Browns’ season will rise and fall with Watson. We won’t know anything about him, really, until he plays in a game that counts. I want to see him be consistent and productive, and until I do, I will continue to doubt him. You have to feel that way about it, and him. It’s just common sense.

Steve King