Texans must strongly consider starting Deshaun Watson

The Houston Texans paid a pretty penny for Deshaun Watson to sit on the bench for his first year in the NFL.

April 27, 2017. One of the most anticipated events in all of sports, the first round of the NFL Draft. The following rounds are as important as the first round, but not nearly as exciting. Thursday night is the money night.

The draftees are carefully picked over by each team. Every move they make closely evaluated. If one thing seems off about a potential pick, many teams will look elsewhere to find their next star player.

Case in point, Laremy Tunsil. In 2016, the hulking left tackle was supposed to be a top-three pick. Instead, a tweet was released of him taking a hit from a bong in a gas mask only minutes before the draft began.

The video and pictures were released right before the first round started, and they were devastating to his draft stock. Tunsil slipped all the way to the Miami Dolphins at 13th-overall.

Just like Tunsil, Deshaun Watson’s night was one he would never forget—for a different reason, of course.

At the outset, he saw the Chicago Bears move up from third to second-overall to select a quarterback … Mitchell Trubisky.

This tweet about sums up the reaction from every Bears fan about the Trubisky pick.

As our NFL expert Matt Verderame put it, “Trubisky has a ceiling something akin to Andy Dalton. You don’t draft Dalton in the first round, and you surely don’t trade up for that privilege.”

The next quarterback selected was Patrick Mahomes out of Texas Tech. At No. 10 overall, the Kansas City Chiefs went with the guy that they thought had the most upside. While Mahomes needs work, he has the opportunity to sit for a year behind veteran Alex Smith. Mahomes has the arm strength needed to succeed in the league. The Chiefs made an excellent choice.

Then, at number 12, the Cleveland Browns were set to make their selection.

Anticipation was building. There was speculation about who the Browns would select with only one top quarterback prospect remaining. Instead, the Browns didn’t draft anyone at No. 12. They traded their pick to the Houston Texans, receiving the 25th-overall selection and Houston’s first-round choice in 2018.

And with that pick, the Texans selected Deshaun Watson.

As Watson walked up to shake Roger Goodell’s hand, there was a sigh of relief on his face. Still, the moment was temporary.

Tom Savage, the Texans current starting quarterback, supposedly has the upper hand to keep his job going into September. Yet history tells us this will become a competition in the heat of training camp, one likely decided by preseason performance. This despite the report that Watson will not even get his chance to actually compete for the starting job.

If that report holds water, there are two takeaways. On one hand, good for the Texans. They shouldn’t rush into anything with their future starting quarterback. Let him take a year to develop and turn himself into a better player. On the other hand, is there really any chance Savage is better than Watson?

Even with likely short-term pain, wouldn’t you rather spend time developing your future franchise quarterback, considering you traded up 13 spots to select him?

Granted, we have a small sample size of what Savage can do in the NFL, so it may be early to make rash decisions about him. Still, we saw unimpressive play from him at the conclusion of 2016

Watson is by no means ready for an NFL start, right now. Savage has the edge. He knows the playbook by heart considering he’s been with the team for three years. Watson is still learning Bill O’Brien’s complicated playbook and he may not get the hang of it for a while considering he said “it’s like learning Spanish.”

¡Aprende el libro de juego más rápido, mi amigo! (Learn the playbook faster, my friend!)

Even though Watson is not NFL ready, that doesn’t mean that Savage is technically “NFL ready.” Sure, the veteran has played in five more NFL games than Watson, but the results were middling.

It’s best to put them on an even playing field and see how it pans out.

Watson’s film has been picked to pieces by every imaginable NFL analyst, with many reaching the same conclusion. His accuracy and vision need work. His toughness and penchant for playing big in grand moments is beyond reproach.

At Clemson, head coach Dabo Swinney laid out the offense in front of Watson. Similar to most college systems, it was based on a quick read. If that didn’t come open, Watson was in trouble.

In the video, Watson makes a deep throw to his receiver running along the right side of the field. Watson spots that his man is in one-on-one coverage and launches the ball his way. The pass is completed and Clemson scores a touchdown to put them up 13-0 on South Carolina.The main takeaway from the video is that Watson threw the ball too far to the right. He didn’t overshoot his receiver, but he did throw it to the outside of his receiver. His teammate did an excellent job covering up Watson’s mistake.Speaking of deep throws, let’s take a look at Watson’s completion chart, courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

From the chart, there is clear evidence Watson has an immensely greater impact over the game when his throws stay short. When the throws start to go beyond the 10-yard mark, result become ugly.

Considering his velocity at the NFL Scouting Combine, is this more about his reads or arm strength? Maybe it’s simply an accuracy issue. O’Brien and his staff will have to figure out the problem(s) and then rectify throughout the offseason program.

While the consistency of having Savage start may be too much to pass up, the Texans should be bold. Houston has finished 9-7 each of the past three seasons. With an improved AFC South threatening its hold on the division, O’Brien must consider going for a high-upside in Watson, rather than a bottom-rung quarterback with limited experience in Savage.

Next: Who's the greatest quarterback of all-time?

Watson may not get his chance at the beginning of the season. At some point, though, get ready Houston. The Watson takeover will be in full swing.