New Texans QB Watson already feels at home in Houston
Watson impressed Smith, so Texans made it happen
The foundation of the boldest trade in Texans history was laid at college football’s national championship game between Clemson and Alabama in Tampa, Fla.
In interviews with four people familiar with what transpired, this is the anatomy of the trade that led to general manager Rick Smith getting Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Smith had been impressed with Watson during his sophomore season in which he threw for 4,104 yards and 35 touchdowns and ran for 1,105 yards and 12 TDs. Watson had been outstanding in the loss to Alabama in the title game. He riddled Nick Saban’s defense for 405 yards passing and four touch-
downs and added 73 yards rushing.
Fast-forward to Jan. 9 of this year — before the last game of the college season — and Smith was on the sideline doing pregame scouting at Raymond James Stadium. Of all the terrific players on both teams, Watson got Smith’s attention more than any.
Smith watched Watson to see his focus, preparation, demeanor and how he interacted with his teammates on college football’s biggest stage.
Then, Smith and the other NFL scouts took their seats in the stands. Because so many credentials are issued to media at the title game, NFL scouts can’t be accommodated in the press box.
Smith’s seat was in the middle of Clemson fans. He watched Watson to see how he reacted to his mistakes, how his teammates responded to him and how he performed against the No. 1-ranked team.
The look of a winner
Smith watched Watson lead the Tigers to a comefrom-behind victory, throwing for 420 yards and three touchdowns and running for another score. When he threw the winning touchdown pass, it gave Clemson its first national title in 30 years.
“I watched this guy play against a pretty good defense, and I saw him make all the throws necessary with velocity that he needed to put on the ball at specific times,” Smith said Friday, one day after he traded up in the first round to draft Watson.
When Smith returned to Houston and the evaluation process continued, the Texans spent a lot of time with the top quarterback prospects at the combine, pro days and in meetings with 30 of them at NRG Stadium.
“When I met him at the combine, (Watson was a) very poised guy,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “I felt like he was a guy that answered the questions very honestly, had a good memory, a good recall of specific plays that happened in his college career.”
Watson was invited to Houston. On the night Watson arrived, he joined Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson for dinner with Texans coaches.
Smith would not be available the next day to meet with Watson and Robinson at NRG Stadium because he was part of the contingent going to Pittsburgh for the funeral of Steelers owner Dan Rooney.
Smith met with the players at dinner. They met with the coaches at NRG the next day.
“It was actually the whole offensive staff that met with Deshaun, which I don’t think is easy for a young man,” O’Brien said. “Obviously, a bona fide prospect, a guy to come in here and have to stand up in front of nine guys in the room (including) the offensive line coach, receiver coach, quarterback coach (and) head coach.
“One of the things that impressed us the most was his ability to retain information with poise. We do several different things with our conversations with our quarterbacks. He handled it all very well. That impressed us.”
The more time Smith spent with Watson — the more people he spoke to about the quarterback — the more impressed he became.
As the draft approached, everyone knew the Texans needed to select a quarterback. It was a matter of who would be available and if one they liked — Watson or Patrick Mahomes — could slip to No. 25. The three-best athletes — but not the top-three on their board — were LSU safety Jamal Adams, Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster and Watson.
Working the phones
As the draft approached, Smith called around the league to see what teams might want on draft day to surrender their first-round pick. The Texans did as much as they could to gather intelligence about which teams were leaning toward taking a quarterback and which teams might be willing to trade down.
On Thursday, Smith spent much of the day talking to teams in the top 10. The price would be too steep as the clock ticked down to Cleveland making the first pick. Teams wanted more than a firstround pick.
Smith spoke to Browns general manager Sashi Brown. Cleveland had the first and 12th picks. They selected defensive end Myles Garrett first overall. Brown said he would be willing to deal the 12th pick for the right price, so they negotiated.
Smith figured he needed to get ahead of Arizona, which had the 13th pick. Many NFL experts thought the Cardinals might take a quarterback.
After the draft began and the Browns chose Garrett, the NFL had its first bombshell. Chicago shocked the league by paying dearly to move up from third to second to take quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. That meant Watson and Mahomes were available.
The Browns liked Trubisky and hoped he might fall to them at No. 12. When Kansas City jumped to the 10th spot and selected Mahomes, Smith had to move. He wasn’t worried about New Orleans taking a QB at No. 11, but he had to make sure the Texans were the team to get in front of the Cardinals in case another team wanted Watson, too.
Smith called Cleveland and got Brown on the phone. He agreed to swap first-round positions if Smith would give Cleveland the Texans’ 2018 first-round pick. In
March, Smith had traded a second-round pick in 2018 to the Browns to unload Brock Osweiler.
Smith got off the phone with Brown. Each team had to call the NFL desk at the draft to tell them they made the trade. Chris Olsen, the vice president of football administration, informed the league.
A steal of a trade?
Smith called two members of the team’s front office — director of football operations Jason Lowery and football operations manager Khalil Reed — who manned the Texans’ table in Philadelphia. They submitted the card with Watson’s name on it.
“As the draft unfolded, Bill and I kept talking about the possibility of doing it at various points and decided to make the move,” Smith said.
If Watson comes close to duplicating for the Texans what he achieved at Clemson, surrendering only a first-round pick might turn out to be a steal.