Watson positioned as rising star
Considering his accomplishments under the circumstances last year, great things may be in store
The more I watch Deshaun Watson and the more I hear about him from coaches and teammates who see him behind the scenes, the more convinced I am that he will earn recognition as one of the NFL’s most elite quarterbacks this season.
To illustrate why I feel confident in making this prediction about a quarterback going into his third year with the Texans, let’s start by looking back at last season.
Watson played all but one snap. He played with a collapsed lung and a broken rib suffered in a victory over Dallas.
Despite being sacked a leaguehigh 62 times and getting knocked down another 132 times, Watson led the Texans to an 11-5 record and an AFC South title.
Watson’s inexperience created some of those sacks and hits. Bad blocking by his teammates — not just the linemen — caused the rest.
Will Fuller and Keke Coutee, the second and third receivers behind DeAndre Hopkins, combined to miss 19 games because of injuries.
Starting running back Lamar Miller missed 2½ games because of injuries. Backup running back D’Onta Foreman contributed nothing while recovering from surgery on his Achilles tendon.
And the tight ends, including rookies Jordan Atkins and Jordan Thomas, combined for only 61 catches, 745 yards and four touchdowns.
With all that in mind, look at what Watson achieved in his second season after spending the previous offseason recuperating from surgery to repair a torn ACL that ended his rookie year after seven games, including six starts.
After a poor performance in the first game at New England that precipitated a three-game losing streak, Watson helped the Texans win nine consecutive games, including five by seven or fewer points.
Yes, they bombed out in the 21-7 playoff loss to Indianapolis. They scored their fewest points of the season, with Watson contributing 235 yards, one touchdown pass, a 59.2 completion percentage and a 69.7 rating.
Like his teammates and coaches, including Bill O’Brien, Watson has to elevate his performance in the playoffs. And reaching the playoffs this season is going to be a lot more difficult against a much tougher first-place schedule.
Sensational sophomore
With many predicting that defenses would catch up to Watson in his first full season as a starter, he was outstanding for the most part.
Watson threw for 4,165 yards and 26 touchdowns. He completed 68.3 percent and compiled a 103.1 rating. He threw nine interceptions and averaged 8.2 yards per pass. He also rushed for 551 yards and five touchdowns.
In 23 games, including 22 starts, Watson has a touchdownto-interception ratio of 45-17.
In his starts, the Texans have averaged 27.7 points, including 25.1 last season, the most since 2012 when they finished 12-4 and reached the divisional round of the playoffs.
Analyzing Watson’s 2018 season more in depth, against AFC South opponents, they had a 4-2 record. He had eight touchdowns, two interceptions and a 101.5 rating.
Outside the AFC South, Watson had 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 104.1 rating. Those numbers were even better against AFC teams — 20 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 105.0 rating.
This season, the Texans play at Kansas City, and Watson will be compared to another third-year quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who was voted the NFL Most Valuable Player Award last season.
In select company
Brandon Kiley from 610 Sports Talk in Kansas City did some intriguing research and came up with these nuggets on Watson: Of the 77 quarterbacks who have thrown a minimum of 600 passes in their first two seasons, Watson is first in completion percentage, third in rating, third in yards per attempt, third in yards rushing per game, fifth in passing yards per game and sixth in touchdown percentage.
And those stats include the greatest quarterbacks in history, including eight who are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Now, let’s look ahead to this season. Part of Watson’s development is learning when to hold it and when to throw it, when to go down and when to go out of bounds. His improvement in that area under new quarterbacks coach Carl Smith should help reduce sacks and hits.
The offensive line should be better with the additions of tackles Tytus Howard (first round) and Max Scharping (second) in the draft and veteran Matt Kalil in free agency, the return of right tackle Seantrel Henderson and the improvement of second-year guard Martinas Rankin.
Fuller should be ready for regular season after recovering from surgery on his ACL. Coutee had a healthy offseason program.
Miller enters the last year of his contract, and Foreman showed up in the best shape of his career and had an excellent offseason.
Injuries will take a toll, as they do with every team, but if the offense can stay relatively healthy, there’s no telling just how great Watson can be.
His teammates and coaches say Watson is just as curious about absorbing the offense and learning about defenses as he is about traveling around the world during offseason vacation, including getting baptized in the Jordan River last week on a trip to Israel.
During the offseason program, Watson showed a lot of confidence in the offensive system. He understands what his teammates are supposed to do on every snap. He knows what’s expected of him on and off the field. He relishes his role as the offensive leader, and he wants to be depended on when games are on the line.
Watson has a good relationship with O’Brien, who oversees the game plan and calls the plays. Watson is accustomed to working with new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, who coached the tight ends.
Watson also has made a smooth transition from former quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan to Smith, who coached Russell Wilson during his first seven seasons with Seattle.
One of Watson’s endearing qualities is his eagerness to learn and his willingness to spend long hours doing it. One of Smith’s most impressive qualities is tutoring quarterbacks. If all goes right, they could be a match made in quarterback heaven.