A star in the making
Already blessed with an upper-echelon skill set, QB Deshaun Watson has upgraded his game through increased awareness and seasoning
LANDOVER, Md. — Deshaun Watson has an uncanny knack for maintaining a calm demeanor during any given moment, a rare trait among athletes or any professional trade.
The Texans’ quarterback is emotional, but he doesn’t always show his feelings.
And Watson has the ability to focus even during trying circumstances.
Minutes after absorbing a devastating hit from Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith five games ago that left him with bruised ribs, a partially collapsed lung and a sore sternum, Watson engineered a game-winning drive in overtime keyed by his 49-yard pass to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
It’s moments like those that build confidence in Watson from his teammates.
Whether it was his determination to play a road game against Jacksonville that required a lengthy bus ride because of concerns about how his lungs might have been affected by the cabin pressure of an airplane flight or his ability to scan the field, elude pursuit and launch a strike for a touchdown, his second NFL season has only bolstered how the Texans feel about their quarterback.
“Everybody has that belief in Deshaun,” Hopkins said. “We’ve never not had that belief in Deshaun.”
Over the past three weeks, Watson has made strides by tweaking his game and providing dividends to the Texans’ offense.
Watson has played in a less freewheeling manner and become more judicious with his throws and how much he challenges defenders physically to protect his body.
‘Just focusing on today’
The progress Watson has displayed has guided the Texans to a six-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s game at Washington and sole possession of first place in the AFC South Division following a discouraging 0-3 start.
“The biggest thing is just focusing on the task at hand, just focusing on today,” Watson said. “Not looking ahead, not looking in the past, just focusing on today, making sure we’re mastering our craft and detailed on the game plan today and then just taking it one day at a time.
“If you have that mentality, you will always enjoy and really master the moment now. You just keep that mentality, take it one day at a time and let everything else come to you.”
What Watson has done over the past three games is distinguished by increased ball security, greater accuracy and fewer hits absorbed.
In that stretch, Watson has completed 45 of 66 passes (66.2 percent) for 591 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions for a shiny 132.7 passer rating. The Texans haven’t committed a turnover in those games — wins over Jacksonville, Miami and Denver — for the longest streak of games without a turnover in franchise history.
The 23-year-old’s ability to adapt his game on the fly and adjust to his situation stretches back to his days as a blue-chip recruit at Gainesville (Ga.) High School where he was a four-year starter to his star turn at Clemson where he won a national championship by toppling Alabama.
“Relative to college, national championship games, playoff games, ACC championship games, he’s been in a lot of big moments,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Obviously, the difference is this is the NFL, but I think there’s something to be said for that, no doubt. That was one of the things that we really looked at relative to drafting him.”
During the Texans’ six-game transformation from an errorprone, last-place outfit into a playoff contender that’s now in the conversation among the elite teams in the NFL, Watson has shined.
Over the past six games, Watson has completed 122 of 179 throws (68.2 percent) for 1,518 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions for a 107.3 passer rating. “Just managing the game, doing what I need to do to operate the offense, get points on the board, move the ball down the field and protect the ball,” Watson said. “That’s the biggest thing, is the operation and protecting the ball and trying to get points on the board.”
Although clearly shedding rust at the start of the season as he regained trust in the anterior cruciate ligament he tore as a rookie last year, Watson has become more willing and able to scramble lately. He has rushed for 148 yards on 32 runs in the past six games.
Watson’s dual-threat skills have earned him respect around the NFL.
“He has the wheels to get loose, but when he scrambles he’s trying to look downfield,” said Washington safety D.J. Swearinger, a former Texans starter who is tied for second in the NFL with four interceptions. “That’s what makes him dangerous. When he does take it down, (Cam Newton and Dak Prescott) don’t have the wiggle like he does.
“He has the Michael Vick wiggle. He’s not as fast as Michael Vick, but he’s got the wiggle, and that’s tough.”
Knowing when to end play
Watson is much more than a running threat, though. He’s a sound pocket passer with outstanding fundamentals.
And he’s growing in his awareness of when to accept that a play is over. In the past, Watson would stubbornly try to buy time even when no one was open and the pocket was collapsing.
Sacked 30 times this season, Watson has only been sacked five times over the past three games.
“I think that the sack numbers were pretty high earlier in the year and obviously that’s improved lately,” O’Brien said. “I think maybe there’s times earlier in the year that he held the ball a little bit too long or the back missed a pick up or maybe somebody ran the wrong route.
“He does do a good job of understanding that basically you have to have a silent alarm and you have to know the journey’s going to be over here pretty quick, so you either have to get rid of it, take off or do something, and I think he’s really improved in that area.”
When five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Demaryius Thomas arrived in a midseason trade, he didn’t realize how inexperienced Watson was.
Watson is in his second season but has only played 16 career games because of a knee injury that limited him to seven games a year ago.
Playing the equivalent of one full season, Watson has passed for 4,088 career yards, 36 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for a 101.7 passer rating. He also has rushed for 537 yards and three touchdowns.
“I didn’t know it was his second year,” Thomas said. “The main thing is how he takes control of the huddle. I played with a couple of young guys that did take control of the huddle, and nothing against those guys, it’s just that he does it a different way.”
Watson ranks second in NFL history behind Kurt Warner for the most touchdown passes by a player in their first 16 games. That was a faster start than Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who had 35 touchdowns during that span.
Only Andrew Luck, Marc Bulger and Warner have passed for more yards in their first 16 games in NFL history.
“Deshaun Watson, he’s a guy that gives you problems because he can sit back in the pocket and throw accurately, but also he can take it down and run it forever,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said. “He’s a major problem. He’s a next generation-type quarterback that can run and throw and a very effective guy. Coach O’Brien is doing an excellent job with him.”
Unparalleled leadership
Watson is on pace to finish the season with 4,247 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
The Texans haven’t had a quarterback like him before who has had this combination of talent, leadership and poise.
Watson has the Texans on a path to the playoffs built around his arms, legs and mind.
“I think it’s been good,” defensive end J.J. Watt said. “Whether things are going well or things are going poorly throughout the season, we’ve found a way. I think he’s done a good job of that — finding a way, always finding a way and allowing the people around him to believe that there’s a way.
“When you’re in a tough situation, especially like we started the season or maybe it’s in a game and things aren’t going the way you want, you have to be able to look to that guy and know that you can get things going the right way. We definitely do that with him.”