PLAYING WHAT-IF
Watson solidifies future with Texans, while Trubisky’s fate with Bears is uncertain
Linked by fateful NFL draft, Watson faces off with Bears’ Trubisky.
CHICAGO — Deshaun Watson arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport four years ago with headphones in his ears and wearing a black T-shirt with a message across the chest: “Define Yourself.”
The Clemson All-American quarterback had packed light for this short business trip, bringing only a backpack and a small carryon bag. Watsonwas friendlywhile stopping briefly to talk to two reporters before meeting a Texans employee waiting to transport him to his ultimate destination: NRG Stadium for an official predraft visit, a pivotal job interview.
Before Watson touched down in Houston, Rick Smith, the Texans’ general manager at the time, had completed a visit the day before with Patrick Mahomes. That included having the cannonarmedTexasTechquarterback get on the whiteboard to diagram plays to test his football acumen. It went extremely well, and Mahomes talked glowingly to the Chronicle upon returning home about how much he enjoyed talking football with then-Texans coach Bill O’Brien.
Watson would go through similar exercises and conversations with the Texans as Mahomes and North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, but Smith was already sold on the Georgia native’s rare qualities of leadership, poise, arm strength, accuracy, athleticism and an undefinable swagger built around clutch performances that included toppling Alabama in the national championship game.
Smith was enamored of both Watson and Mahomes. He couldn’t go wrong either way, but there was a budding connection withWatson and a growing feeling that hewas the Texans’ guy if they could maneuver high enough in the draft to land him.
Two weeks after his visit, in a franchise-altering move, Watson became a Texan. Smith traded up from the 25th pick of the first round to the Browns’ spot at 12th overall, doing business with Cleveland general manager Sashi Brown to land the future Pro Bowl quarterback. Itwas two picks after the Chiefs traded up 17 spots with the Buffalo Bills to draftMahomes, a future NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion.
Those wise personnel decisions to acquire elite quarterbacks are contrasted severely by how the Chicago Bears, the Texans’ opponent Sunday at Soldier Field, fumbled the 2017 draft as generalmanager Ryan Pace secretively and puzzlingly locked inona lightly accomplished Trubisky. Pace traded four selections to move up one pick to draft the one-year starter second overall and the first quarterback taken that year.
Flashing back to that fateful day, Texans scouts and executives had a growing feeling that Smith was going to trade up for Watson during the hours before the draft. Oneof the scouts hada private talk with an executive outside the draft room and told him: “Rick is going all-in to get Deshaun, it’s going to happen.”
That prediction was reinforced when Smith asked for a show of hands in the draft room and asked a hypothetical question, according to multiple people in the room: Who would go up really high and move up to draft a quarterback like Watson?
Only a few people raised their hands, though. Theywere veteran members of the scouting department.
O’Brien, fired earlier this year from his jobs as Texans coach and general manager following an 0-4 start, likedWatson throughout the draft process and wasn’t opposed to making a move to get him. The general manager eventually told everyone assembled in the room that he was making an executive decision and finalized the trade with the Browns to get Watson.
Once the pickwas in, a now-former scouting department executive congratulated Smith. The Texans finally had their franchise quarterback.
“I told Rick after the trade: ‘Wow, you’re a bad dude, you got it done,’ ” the executive recalled. “Rick had a vision for what this young man could do for the franchise, for the city of Houston with his character and being a natural winner and leader. We had such a strong relationship already with Clemson. We already had DeAndre Hopkins. We had so many sources at the school to go to put a stamp on this young man. We all liked Mahomes and you couldn’t go wrong with him, but Rick knew that Deshaun was his guy. Obviously, history has proven him to be right about that decision.”
Trubisky, whose rookie contract expires after this season after the Bears declined to pick up his fifth-year option, faces an uncertain future. He has struggled mightily. Hewas benched for Nick Foles earlier this season and is now back in the starting lineup now because Foles got hurt. He hasmodest career statistics: 9,623 yards, 58 touchdowns, 34 interceptions and an 86.1 passer rating.
This season, Trubisky has passed for 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in five starts with an 88.2 passer rating. His fumble cost the Bears, who are on a six-game losing streak, a chance to beat the Detroit Lions.
“Trubisky doesn’t process information fast, doesn’t react quickly to changing circumstances and he’s still going through growing pains,” an NFL personnel director said. “The best guys like Deshaun and Pat, they’re special. They are natural, intelligent, instinctive football players. Being drafted that high puts a lot of pressureona youngmanlikeTrubisky. He’s had to fight forhis starting job in college and in Chicago. He’s still got a lot of things to clean up as a player.”
Thriving in adversity
Smith left the Texans organization following the 2017 season to take a leave of absence when his
wife, Tiffany, was diagnosed with cancer and later died. He’s dealing with the grieving process, taking care of his family and preparing for job interviews and is expected to be a candidate for general manager vacancies, including in Atlanta and Detroit. NFL executive vice president of football operations TroyVincent is extremely optimistic that Smith will be running an NFL team again soon.
And Watson, signed to a fouryear, $156 million contract extension before the season and likely to be named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl despite the Texans’ 4-8 record, is appreciative of what Smith did to bring him to Houston and howhe believed so strongly in his skills and character.
One of the most dynamic players in the league, Watson has kept growing all season despite Hopkins being traded during the offseason, a nonexistent running game and a shaky defense.
“I appreciate Rick,” said Watson, who has passed for 3,542 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions for a career-high 110.0 passer rating. “I appreciate his trust inmeandmoving up, getting the pieces right for me to be able to be here in this organization.”
If Watson wanted to harbor hard feelings toward the Bears and perhaps take extra gusto out of showingthemwhat theymissed out on by drafting Trubisky three years ago, he’d be rightfully entitled to them.
In May, Watson wrote on Twitter: “The bears NEVER ONCE talked to me.”
That’s basically true in the fact that the Bears didn’t talk much to Watson beyond the cursory 15minute meeting at the scouting combine and a follow-up telephone interview.
Nonetheless, Watson said he’ll treat this matchup like any other game.
“Nah, it’s no motivation,” he said. “That’s what the organization went with. I have no ties, nothing against the Chicago Bears or the organization. For me personally, it’s no motivation and nothing like that.”
The Bears attended Watson’s Pro Day at Clemson the spring of the draft, including Pace and since-fired coach John Fox. However, the Bears didn’t have a private meeting, workout or dinner withWatson and didn’t bring him to Chicago for a visit. They did meet with him at the NFL combine. Several league sources said, in retrospect, it was clear that Pace wanted Trubisky and concentrated most of his scouting efforts on him. That included a private
dinner in Chapel Hill, N.C., and more research done on him than any other prospect.
The Bears didn’t spend much time with Watson at his Pro Day that he or anyone else can recall.
“Not that I remember,” Watson said. “All 32 teams were at the Pro Day so it was like a blur, honestly, from what I remember. That was pretty much it. I don’t really remember any, too much interaction with those guys. Maybe a little bit at the (combine) in Indianapolis, but nothing too crazy.”
Watson took official visits with the Texans, Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, NewYork Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars, but somehow his invitation to Chicago never came. What happened?
“I have no idea,” Watson said. “I was just going with the flow in every process and that’s pretty much it, honestly. I don’t even know, honestly. I wish I had more answers to that, but I don’t know.”
And the debate of what happened that year hasn’t ceased. Especially inChicagobecause ofTrubisky’s problems.
This head-scratching decision will likely cost Pace and perhaps coach Matt Nagy their jobs.
“I think the fascination with that class, the assumption would be how it all has played out, obviously, with Patrick Mahomes havingwon anMVP and a Super Bowl MVP already so early in his career, but not being the first guy drafted, and how it’s all shaken out from that standpoint,” Texans defensive end J. J. Watt said. “Obviously, the quarterback position in the National Football League is the most-watched and talked-about position by far. So, there’s plenty of intrigue swirling around that, no question. I’m happy and fortunate with the guy we got here.”
The only quarterback with more passing yards than Watson (3,542) this season is Mahomes (3,815). Watson is tied for third in passer rating at 110.0, behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers (118.5) and Mahomes (113.8).
Watson is on top of his game, adapting to adverse circumstances and completing 68.8 percent of his throws despite Hopkins now playing in Arizona, Randall Cobb being on injured reserve, Kenny Stills being released and Will Fuller being suspended for the rest of the season. Watson thrived last week against the Indianapolis Colts while throwing mostly to previously little-used wideouts Keke Coutee and ChadHansen before losing the game on a fumble caused by center Nick Martin’s botched snap.
Watson leads the NFL with an average of 8.8 yards per pass. He has thrown an interception on just 1.5 percent of his passes, ranking eighth in the league. His improvisational skills, scrambling ability, muscleonhis throws sethimapart from the pack.
“Top-two or top-three player in this league as far as I’m concerned, could arguably say he’s the best player,” Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said. “Right when you think you’ve got him dead to rights in the pocket and you’re hanging on him and you think you’ve got him sacked, you don’t. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic and have seen him step out of harm’s way multiple times.”
Trubisky understands thispainful story line too well. Watson and Mahomes have proven themselves. And Trubisky still has much to prove and a lot of doubt surrounding him.
“I don’t control that narrative. I don’t control what people say about it,” Trubisky told Chicago reporters. “It’s always going to be a story just because that’s the draft class we were in. It was me, Deshaun and Pat. We were picked wherewewere, and now it’s up to us to make the most out of our opportunities. They’ve done a great job with theirs, and I’m still trying towritemy storyhere, so that’s all there is to it.”
Championship intangibles
When Watson got off to a hot start as a rookie before suffering a season-ending knee injury, Smith recounted for the Chronicle how he went about trading for Watson by exchanging 2017 first-round draft picks with the Browns and sending Cleveland the Texans’ 2018 first-round selection. Before making that move, Smith tried to trade up to the Jets’ sixth overall spot and a move couldn’t be worked out.
It all went back to Smith watching Watson engineer a national championship game victory over Alabama with a game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Hunter Renfrow in the final seconds. Smith had seen enough. Watson would be his future quarterback.
“I think he’s got all the ingredients to help lead his team to a championship,” Smith said. “Iwas looking for confirmation of the things I’d seen on tape. Deshaun’s got a presence about him that the best ones have. It’s almost like an energy, a sense of calm when you’re in a heightened environment, a pressure situation, and emotions get high. Anxiety rises.”
Smith’s gut feeling was clearly the right call, and now the Texans are collecting the dividends from that decision. Because ofWatson’s presence, the Texans have plenty of hope for a turnaround. Because of Trubisky’s erratic play, the Bears are once again at a crossroads as a franchise.
“I think draft choices are a commodity; you have to feel good about the person you’re moving up for,” Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel said. “I think history will tell youwhen you look at firstround draft choices at the quarterback position, 50 percent of them don’tmake it. Youhave todo your homework and then somebody has to have a good, genuine feel about the guy’s ability, about his personality, howhe’s going to fit in the organization and all of those things kind of go into it, before you make that move. I’m glad we got him.”