There are very few people (those few being Alabama fans) who will not call Deshaun Watson one of the best College quarterbacks of the decade. When we look at the way he played against Alabama in the Championship game, especially in the fourth quarter when he let the Tigers to a stunning win, all of his stats point to the NFL. But, so did Tim Tebow, Mr. Football Johnny Manziel, and Vince Young.
All three of these outstanding college quarterbacks went on to lead less than stellar lives in the NFL. Each were top recruits in their class when coming into the college world and were sot after by many NFL teams, much like Deshaun Watson. With the similarities so astounding, this begs the question; is Watson ready for the NFL?
His stats would tell us he is but really, how important are stats, considering the other three we’ve mentioned had outstanding numbers. However, when Brandon Streeter, quarterbacks coach for Clemson, was asked about how Watson would fair in the NFL, he had nothing but a positive outlook for his star. “He eats and breathes football. He’s in the film room all the time. He’s a gym rat type of kid, and that’s what NFL quarterbacks are made of. I think he’s going to have no problem transitioning to the NFL.”
Streeter went on to talked about how intelligent Deshaun Watson is, both on and off the field. In fact, Watson is so dedicated to going to the NFL that he set him mind to Graduate College in 3 years and did it, all while being one of the top players in the country. So, if intelligence was the main factor, Watson would be in for sure.
However, there are others who say that, since Clemson ran out of a shotgun formation for more than 90 percent of the time, Watson isn’t ready for the NFL way. However, those skeptics skip the fact that, everyday before practice, Watson took snaps from under center. In fact, when asked which he preferred, Watson stated that he would rather take snaps from under center.
The truth is, there isn’t one factor that makes a player more apt to excel in the NFL than any others. Reality is you have to be an all-around player, especially when going into the NFL as a quarterback among the likes of Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, and Ben Rothlisberger. If you ask me, Watson has been preparing for this day for several years and is as ready as ever to take this next challenge in his career. The next choice, however, will be which team he will end up at. It should be an exciting 6 months between now and the start of the 2017 Season.
