FanPost

The case with Deshaun Watson

Honestly, I’m getting sick and tired of these NFL analysts and mock draft experts stating all of their flaws on Deshaun Watson. Bleacher Report just released their Pre-Combine Mock Draft and Watson doesn't even land in the first round which is absurd. Guess what folks? Plain and simple, he is the best quarterback in this draft class. Deshaun Watson has proven over the course of his collegiate career that he is special and I don't get why people can’t understand that. NFL.com's draft tracker has Watson listed as the #2 quarterback at his position behind Mitch Trubisky. Here is my question what is wrong with Watson and what has Trubisky proved?

I have nothing against the of the University of North Carolina but there are many question marks around this kid. The Tar Heels have always been in the middle of the pack in the ACC conference, though, last season with quarterback Marquise Williams and stud runner Elijah Hood leading the way, they got the Heels as high as the #10 ranking in the country and onwards to a hard fought loss in the ACC Championship. Yes, Williams is a better runner but he still managed to get more total touchdowns than Trubisky in that year then Mitch did this past season. Also, if Mitch Trubisky, the pride of Ohio is a possible number one pick in this draft, why didn’t he start over Williams? Elijah Hood was a large help to that as he had a remarkable season and finished 3rd in the conference in rushing, though this season the Tar Heels really lost no one to the draft. So how could Williams have the Heels competing for an ACC Title? and Trubisky leading UNC to an 8-5 record and losing to Stanford in the Sun Bowl with Christian McCaffrey not even active. Watson on the other hand has a total of 5 losses in his whole career.

A lot of scouts even think Watson is lower than not only Trubisky but Notre Dame alum’ DeShone Kizer. Why? Kizer doesn't turn the ball over, I can give credit to that, but here is the main thing, he doesn't win. In the words of Herm Edwards, "you play to win the game." You don't play to show. Notre Dame has always been regraded as one of the greatest programs in college football history and I agree with that statement. Though this past season will be a stain that will be hard to get out for the Fighting Irish for a long time. Finishing 4-8 with losses to Texas, Michigan State, Duke, NC State, Stanford, Navy, Virginia Tech and USC. I won’t blame Kizer and the Irish for the losses to the Trojans and Stanford as they are a great teams. The other teams combined for a lower than mediocre 38-39 record. How can a team with so much talent and some of the best recruits in the nation put up such a horrific season with such an NFL ready quarterback? Kizer was also benched a few times throughout the season by head coach Brian Kelly. What NFL teams like quarterbacks that get benched due to poor play? Since 2010, no quarterback drafted in the first round had a losing record in their final college season. I don't see a team in the first round that should reach and take a chance on Fighting Irish alum'.

Their are 5 teams in the NFL that need a quarterback badly; the Browns, Niners, Bears, Jets and Texans. One of those teams has a much later pick than any of the others which is Houston who holds the 25th pick. Houston likely won’t take a quarterback in the first round, though if they were to, I believe they should use it on my 2nd ranked quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. I may be going against myself a bit here as Mahomes didn't have a winning record last season like Kizer. Though, compare the stats, Mahomes put up video game numbers while still being able to protect the ball just as well as Kizer and threw for more yards and scores than Trubisky. The Texas Tech Red Raider was able to put up 53 touchdowns, good enough for 9th best all time in a season behind names like Mariota, Tebow and Bradford. Mahomes throws the ball more than nearly every other quarterback in the country other than Luke Falk at WSU but some of the places he can squeeze the ball into are better than every other quarterback in this draft including Mr. Watson. Mahomes is generally pretty consistent with his play averaging 421 YPG last season but with every quarterback there is a good game and a bad game. His best game was record breaking, 88 pass attempts good enough for 734 yards and 7 total touchdowns with 2 coming on the ground. That came against one of the best teams in the country, Oklahoma in a classic Big 12 shootout. The bad came against Iowa State. An unusual 50% completion percentage and 2 picks along with his only QB rating under 100. Mahomes showed frustration throughout that game which he will need to work on at the next level. Houston has one of the best defences in football along with some of the best offensive talent. The only thing missing is a quarterback. Bill O’Brien, a remarkable quarterback-minded coach would help Mahomes mature and help him develop into what Houston needs. The Texans have two burners in Will Fuller and Braxton Miller along with stud receiver DeAndre Hopkins who seems to catch anything in his radius. Add the run game of Lamar Miller who posted his second 1,000-yard season last year and the Texans would appear to be a complete team ready to have the AFC South by the horns.

The only player ahead of Mahomes in the quarterback category is one of the most determined quarterbacks I have seen in my years of watching college football. The only person who may take the cake in that category is Tim Tebow. Say what you want about his NFL, and now interesting MLB, career but Tebow at Florida was one of the best players to step on the gridiron. He was determined to win for his team and when he lost he hated it. That’s exactly what you want in a player and Deshaun Watson has that. In Watson’s 2015 campaign, he racked up 4,000+ passing yards, 1,000+ rushing yards and 47 total scores on route to facing the best defence in the country and arguably the best college football dynasty many of us have ever seen. Watson puts up 400 passing yards and 4 touchdowns in the heartbreaking championship loss. Fast forward a year later, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is constantly bragging about Watson while another young gun slinger and sprinter is making a name for himself elsewhere in the ACC. Swinney defends his star quarterback saying that Watson is better than Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, and even I thought he was crazy. No one had really seen what Jackson was doing with all this scoring and hurdling. But Watson didn't say a word, he did his thing, while many doubted him. Clemson struggled throughout many games as their defence wasn’t as strong. They had just lost their three best defensive players to the draft in the first two rounds the season before and had to overcome that this season. In the big games prior to the National Championship, Watson had struggles but proved he was the best player in each game. The Louisville game, Watson was very inconsistent with his passes, tossing 3 interceptions with some of them being very ugly. Though, he collected himself and puts up nearly 400 yards and scores 5 times through the air by games end. The North Carolina State game, many say that if the kicker for the Wolfpack would have nailed the kick, Clemson wouldn't have been in the playoff but who knows. Watson completed a remarkable 75% of his passes along with 3 total scores and yet another 400+ yard performance. How about the state of South Carolina’s rivalry game against the Gamecocks. Watson embarrassed Will Muschamp and his squad competing 82% of his throws good enough for 6 scores as well. When you try to doubt Deshaun Watson he will shut you up and shove your doubts back down your throat. Throughout the season many scouts said that Watson can be wild with his passes and turned the ball over too much. But when he is on the big stage, forget about it.

The 2017 National Championship game, a rematch. #1 Alabama Crimson Tide versus #2 Clemson Tigers. I thought the game was over. It was 14-0 for the Crimson Tide in the first quarter. Watson was getting tackled hard, low and high throughout the first half and struggled to get up a few times. Once people, like myself started to doubt the Tigers, Watson decided to go on a tear against one of the best defences of all-time, and that’s no exaggeration. From November-December, Alabama allowed 41 total points in 6 games including dominating one of the best offences in Washington in the Peach Bowl semi-final. If you didn't do the math, Nick Saban’s defence allowed an average of less than 7 points a game in a 2-month span. Deshaun was tired of hearing how many times Alabama has scored on the defensive and special team side of the ball. He was tired of hearing people constantly doubt him throughout his career. "He is too skinny", "He is too wild with his arm". He proved he has what it takes. Watson passed for 420 yards, scored 4 times including a game winning score with 0:01 left in the game to win Clemson’s first title since 1981. Do scouts like that sort of stuff?

I’m not saying Watson should be the number one pick in the draft, it’s safe to say Myles Garrett is a once in a generation player and the safe and predicted #1 pick. Though, if you are one of the teams in need of a quarterback and you decide to pass on the former 4-star quarterback, it’s going to come back and bite you in the butt, because that Watson kid is something special and will prove all the doubters wrong like he always has.

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.