Gaine sees Watson’s makeup as important as QB’s talent
INDIANAPOLIS — Deshaun Watson dazzled the NFL with his dynamic style as a rookie, electrifying crowds with his rare athleticism, imagination and poise.
Before a torn anterior cruciate ligament prematurely ended his season, Watson left no doubt about his skills as a dualthreat quarterback.
Although new Texans general manager Brian Gaine wasn’t with the AFC South club, he’s keenly aware of how Watson transformed a dormant attack into the highest-scoring offense in the NFL.
As Gaine, who worked in the Bills’ scouting department last season, takes on the heavy lifting of upgrading the roster during his first NFL scouting combine running the Texans’ personnel department, he doesn’t have to worry about addressing the quarterback position. He’s convinced Watson has every
trait it takes to be a franchise quarterback.
“The physical part you see on tape, everybody sees the ability and the demonstrated performance on the field, but what I can speak to is, a little more importantly, is the character of the individual, the makeup of the guy, the work ethic, his passion for the game, his commitment to the game, in there early, staying late,” Gaine said. “All the intangible profiles that you look for in a quarterback, he possesses those. There’s a lot of progress to be made, a lot of improvement ahead of him, but when you’re breaking down the physical profile and the intangible profile of the player, the physical profile’s all good. I would equally say that the intangible profile is equally positive as well.”
Before his injury, Watson was on pace to finish the season with 43 touchdown passes.
Watson threw 16 touchdown passes in the month of October alone, breaking Dan Marino’s NFL rookie record for most touchdown passes in a calendar month from 1983. He finished his first NFL season with 1,699 yards, 19 touchdown passes, two touchdown runs and 269 rushing yards.
The Texans and Watson are upbeat that he’ll participate in organized team activities on a limited basis. Watson is running on an anti-gravity treadmill and is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation.
“I’m optimistic about that,” said Gaine, who affirmed that defensive end J.J. Watt and running back D’Onta Foreman are on track to return for the first game from a broken leg and a ruptured Achilles tendon, respectively. “A lot of that is because of his work ethic and football character and his personal character. The makeup of the individual, I wouldn’t be surprised about that at all.”
Following a 4-12, injury-riddled season, the Texans have a number of issues with their roster.
O-line, secondary priorities
The offensive line is suspect. Their best lineman, center Nick Martin, is recuperating from ankle surgery. Their secondary faltered as the Texans ranked last in the NFL in points allowed.
They don’t have the ammunition of high draft picks, having sent first-round and secondround selections last year to the Cleveland Browns in trades involving Watson and Brock Osweiler.
The Texans do have a chance to bounce back though, with the healthy return of Watson and Watt and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus along with three third-round draft picks.
The Texans have roughly $67 million in salary-cap space and are expected to be an aggressive player during free agency.
“I see a great opportunity,” Gaine said. “I know we don’t have a first- or second-round pick, but we have three picks in the third round which gives us three picks in close to what’s approximately the top 100. So, I feel like we have an opportunity to fortify the roster in that round as well, but at all levels. I think history has shown, it’s been proven that you can find starters at various levels of the draft.
“I’ve had a history of doing that myself and then try to supplement the roster through any freeagent opportunities that might present themselves. So, we feel like we got a good core in place. We certainly have needs like every other NFL team does, and we’ll address those needs either through free agency or the draft.”
The Texans have other business to conduct.
As one of the most disruptive pass rushers and run-stoppers in the NFL, Pro Bowl outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney has emerged as an extremely valuable commodity.
The Texans have Clowney under contract through a $13.846 million fifth-year team option for 2018 but want to be in business with the former top overall pick for a long time.
Clowney could become the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL, which would entail topping the six-year, $114.1 million contract of Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller. That deal includes $70 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $19.016 million.
Sooner rather than later
Ideally, the Texans would like to get something done with Clowney before the season starts or even training camp.
“That’s something that we’re currently evaluating right now, about the feasibility of that,” Gaine said. “It’s certainly something we have interest in.”
The Texans also are interested in pursuing a long-term contract extension for standout inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney.
“I was here when we drafted him and I was here for the three years to watch him grow and develop into a full-time starter,” said Gaine, who added that retaining veteran corner Johnathan Joseph is under consideration. “I’m excited about the opportunity to consider that as well. He’s certainly a core piece and a guy that we would consider doing that with as well.”
His philosophy is to try to keep a lot of the Texans’ players on the roster.
“One thing I will say is, personally, I believe in drafting, developing, growing and extending our own,” Gaine said. “The more times that we have the ability to do that, the more confident I’m going to be on doing extensions.”
Gaine and Texans coach Bill O’Brien have a strong relationship and have built a good rapport. It’s been a positive atmosphere around the Texans’ offices as they are in lockstep on many aspects of roster-building.
“Excellent, it’s been a great partnership in terms of working and coming together again, but our relationship is seamless,” Gaine said. “We share a lot of the same philosophical belief systems on how to build a football program, how to build a football culture. We don’t agree always on everything and when we don’t, we talk about those things, but we certainly have a lot in common in terms of our football belief system in how to build a winner.”