Player Profile Part I -- Deshaun Watson
Evaluating the interesting options at QB around the league with film.
2020 Stats
4,823 yards, 36 Td’s, 7 INT’s, 8.9 Y/A, 0.228 EPA/play.
Watson had an incredible 2020 with a very lackluster roster and coaching disarray. Despite throwing for 4,800+ yards, Watson only had one 1,000 yard receiver in Brandin Cooks. After an 0-4 start, the Texans fired head coach Bill O’Brien, and from that point on Watson ranked 5th in the league in EPA per play with 0.263, as opposed to 13th in the league with 0.113.
As of today, Deshaun Watson has not been publicly available for trade in lieu of his request, but that hasn’t stopped teams from calling, or fans from making jersey swaps. A trade involving a QB this talented and young is unprecedented and would send a shockwave throughout the entire league. To play with the fun idea of Watson being freed from Houston, let’s take a look at the player teams are scrambling to put together offers for.
The clip above is a concept that most teams call ‘shock’. It is very similar to another concept that Bill O’Brien terrorized defenses with in New England, ‘Hoss Juke’. Instead of the juke route from the innermost trips receiver (in this case the attached Y), runs a stick route. Watson recognizes the single high coverage, and as the ball is snapped he glances at the FS for just a moment to freeze him and open up the window for the fade. He delivers an absolute beauty to Cooks for a big gain.
One part of Watson’s game that I find underrated is his pocket presence. Often times quarterbacks of Watsons’ skillset are eager to run around and make heroic plays outside of structure they start to bail out too early and miss on easy concepts, that isn’t the case with Watson. Yes, he does that at times, but he is much more refined in that area of his game than any other quarterback that I’ve evaluated of his skillset.
In the clip Houston calls a dagger concept from empty. Watt and Dupree crash the edges and force Watson to step up, leaving a huge hole for him to scramble. Instead, he hitches and finds his receiver on the deep dig in between zones.
Earlier in the same game, Watson displays another example of his stellar pocket presence. Watt bull rushes his man into the backfield, and feeling the pressure, Watson side steps just enough to ensure his throwing motion will be clean and throws a strike on the sail route for a touchdown.
Accuracy
Deshaun Watson is pinpoint accurate, and I’m not over exaggerating. When he’s on, he’s on and there isn’t a throw he can’t make. Whether it be standing tall in the pocket, off balance, or on the run.
Backed up in his own endzone, with pressure in his face, he puts the ball into a place only his receiver can get it, away from the closing defender protecting his receiver. Had Watson put that throw an inch anywhere else, and the defender would have had a chance to make a play on the ball and could have made what would have been a very costly turnover instantly leading to points.
Under Pressure
Watson is mechanically sound under pressure. Throughout his NFL career he has been under pressure a lot, like a lot. He is among the most sacked QB’s in the league since he was drafted in 2017. Partly due to himself, but mostly due to the lack of interior help.
Watson is undoubtedly the best option “available”. In my opinion a top 5 QB, and unpopularly I believe he is on the same tier as Mahomes. Whichever team gives Houston the haul they’re looking for, it is a steal. Watson is a franchise altering QB who can bring a worthy roster to the Super Bowl, and look flashy while doing it.