Bill O”Brien believes Clemson’s offense helped Deshaun Watson
Deshaun Watson’s transition into the NFL may not be as difficult as some thought.
It’s very difficult for quarterbacks to adjust to the NFL because of how simple offenses are in college. That may not be the case with Houston Texans’ rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien recently admitted that the offense Watson ran at the University of Clemson has really helped him transition to the next level.
From John McClain of the Houston Chronicle:
"“He had to learn a pretty sophisticated offense at Clemson,” O’Brien said. “He had to do a lot of things at the line of scrimmage. I think he was trained really well. That’s a credit to the Clemson staff.“He’d already been in some big games when he got here. When he came here, he put his head down and came to work every day.”"
O”Brien is also impressed with how Watson handles himself.
"“He’s a very poised guy,” O’Brien said. “I like the way he carries himself. I like the way he operates. He’s a rookie, and he’s not nearly where he needs to be to be a full-time starter in this league, but you can tell he’s got a lot of qualities you like.“For being a rookie, he’s wise beyond his years. He asks great questions in the morning meeting, and you can tell he’s studied the night before. Every practice isn’t perfect. He knows he needs to get a lot better. And he did get better every day during the spring. It’s no pads, of course. It’s not real football, but he did improve in his knowledge of the offense.”"
I would certainly be surprised if Watson beat out Tom Savage for the starting quarterback job this summer.
Savage has way more experience in O’Brien’s offense. While Watson has to learn the playbook and also adapt to the speed of the NFL.
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But the good news is that it sounds like Watson is set up to be successful in the NFL because of the person he is and how much Clemson’s offense challenged him in college.
As much as we would all love to see Watson be the Texans’ starter for their opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the best move is to not rush him along and let Tom Savage start for now.