Texans Rumors: Deshaun Watson gets praise from Bill O’Brien
By Ty Finch
The Texans traded up to take Deshaun Watson with the 12th overall pick in the first round. It looks like he will have a good shot to be the starter in Week 1.
Since the Texans drafted Watson, Bill O’Brien and his coaching staff have been ardent supporters of Tom Savage being the starting quarterback. However, O’Brien has recently been praising the rookie, Deshaun Watson. It is looking more likely that Savage will have a short rope this season.
When the team traded up 13 spots to get Watson, it appeared it was trying something different to get over the hump. However, almost immediately after the draft, O’Brien let the world know that Watson would have to wait behind Savage for his turn. Now, during OTA’s, O’Brien has been praising the rookie.
"“Deshaun has come in and been impressive.” “He’s come in here and done a really good job of putting the time in, learning the basics of our offense, going out on the field. … He’s really gotten better every day. He’s gotten a lot of reps.”"
The Texans have long been a team that is one good quarterback away from reaching the Super Bowl. They have been through a number of them over the years. First-overall pick David Carr was sacked a record number of times before retiring early. They then tried to hit it big with Matt Schaub. Schaub had his moments, but his career fell off quickly.
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When Schaub did not work out, the Texans went through a litany of quarterbacks such as Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, T.J Yates, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweriler and Savage.
Usually, when a team takes a quarterback in the first round, it plans on using him right away. One of the last first-round quarterbacks to actually sit for a year or two was Aaron Rodgers, but he is a unicorn.
There is still quite awhile until training camp, however. The battle will be settled then.