Watson leads Texans with confidence

Deshaun Watson is doing things that no rookie quarterback has done in the NFL since Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton in the 1960s.

Most everyone is wowed by what Watson is doing for the Houston Texans. Everyone, that is, except Watson himself.

“It was a matter of time before somebody ... was going to do it,” he said. “So why not me?”

Since taking over at quarterback for the Texans at halftime of the season opener against Jacksonville, the 12th overall pick in the draft has shown an innate ability to make and extend plays and get his teammates to rally around him.

What he lacks in experience, he more than makes up for in confidence and that, his teammates say, is one of the biggest reasons Houston’s offense is performing as never before.

“He has the pedigree to be great,” receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “And just the adjustments that he can make on the field, going on the sideline, going out and correcting it, I haven’t had that in a while.”

Indeed, Hopkins and the Texans have suffered through a revolving door at quarterback over the past few years.

And after dealing with the fiasco that was Houston’s failed $72 million Brock Osweiler experiment last season, a confident playmaker such as Watson is a welcome change.

He threw for 283 yards with four touchdown passes and ran for another score as the Texans set a franchise record by scoring 57 points in a trouncing of the Titans on Sunday to become the first rookie since Tarkenton in 1961 to have at least four TD passes with a running score in a game.

He’s the only rookie in NFL history with seven touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns in his team’s first four games, and his five TDs on Sunday were the second most by a rookie in league history behind the six Hall of Famer Gale Sayers scored in 1965.

Watson, who won a national championship at Clemson last season, was selected as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his work on Sunday.

But he knows he will have to take another step this week with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs visiting on Sunday night.

“It’s a cool honor, but I can’t settle for it. Can’t settle for it,” he said.

“Always have to make sure that (I’m) improving and trying to be the best player because you’re only as good as your next game.”

Ask player after player about Watson and they will say much of the same things. You will repeatedly hear “he’s a winner” and “he brings a swagger to the offense.”