The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Swinney selling Watson hard; what if he’s right?
Given a do-over, and knowing now what we didn’t know then, Tom Brady and Russell Wilson could have been No. 1 overall picks the years they were drafted.
That’s not the reality, though. Players are driven by different things.
Brady probably still plays with a chip after he was a sixth-round pick by the Patriots in 2000.
Wilson the same after he was a third-round pick in the 2012 draft. A year later, he was a Super Bowl champion as a 5-foot-11 QB for the Seahawks.
Brady has four Super Bowl rings, and is eyeing a fifth against the Falcons on Feb. 5. At 6-foot-4, he has the ideal height for an NFL QB, but he looks like most of us in a foot race — that being very slow. He doesn’t have a rocket arm, either.
He is a winner. So is Wilson.
Which brings us to Clemson QB Deshaun Watson, perhaps the biggest enigma in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Unless you throw Mentor’s Mitch Trubisky into that mix as well.
The top two QBs in this draft could be pretty good, and neither could be coming to the Browns in 2017.
Trubisky is interesting because he passes all the measurable tests, but experience is the biggest question. The North Carolina QB has just 13 starts, all this season, but he has been UNC’s system for four years.
Watson is the most fascinating QB prospect in the draft.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who isn’t afraid to voice his opinion, is pushing hard for a team to fall for Watson. Helping his player get drafted is exactly what a coach should do.
What if his comments are right?
What if Watson is a future Hall of Famer in waiting?
That’s the problem for teams that need a quarterback in this year’s draft. Draft analysts such as ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay aren’t high on Watson. But the draft gurus of the world weren’t high on Brady or Wilson either.
Of course, Swinney raved about Watson to reporters at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
“I’m just telling you, if (the teams) pass on Deshaun Watson, they’re passing on Michael Jordan,” said Swinney. “I’m just telling you . ... Deshaun Watson is the best, by a long shot.”
Swinney went on about Watson: “This is a driven, focused kid that’s been way too busy being great to be distracted by anything. So he’s just ready for the moment. He’s so prepared. And it’s been that way forever.”
Imagine if these comments are spot on and the Browns pass on Watson twice — at No. 1 and No. 12?
The Browns haven’t pick No. 1 overall in a draft since 1999, when they picked Kentucky’s Tim Couch, so the importance of this draft is obvious.
Watson was great in college, and even better against the best FBS has to offer.
In two national championship games vs. Alabama, Watson was 1-1 with 478 yards and four touchdowns in 2015, then 463 total yards and four TDs in 2016.
For as many times as the draft gurus are right — and they’re right often — they make mistakes.
Watson is 21 — by comparison Trubisky is 22 — and is listed as 6-foot3, 215 pounds, but those measurements will be confirmed at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
He was a spot starter in 2014, then took off with a 28-2 record in 2015 and 2016. Watson finds a way to win games.
The Browns need a quarterback that can win games.
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King quoted Browns quarterback Josh McCown for King’s MMQB column after Watson led Clemson over Alabama to win the national championship.
Said McCown: “The thing I liked most was that he started slow, and he overcame it. As the game got tighter, he played better. When scouts are at the game, they’re watching him the whole time: His demeanor on the sideline, how he’s interacting with coaches and teammates.
“... With Deshaun, I actually think the NFL game could help him a little bit. In college, some of the throws you are asked to make are different — because of the nature of the field, the hashes, the run pass options. When you have the arm strength, which Deshaun certainly does, some throws that maybe he’s not been asked to make yet, he’ll be asked to make in the NFL.”
McCown could be right. Swinney could be right. Kiper, McShay and others who doubt Watson as a high first-round pick might also be right.
Makes your head spin, doesn’t it?
Contact Podolski at MPodolski@NewsHerald.com; On Twitter: @mpodo.