Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson ranked Tier 2 QB by PFF

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson received a high ranking from Pro Football Focus on their QB list for 2020.

Every time someone looks at the Houston Texans offense, the one player who jumps off the page in terms of talent and being the leader is quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Houston Texans quarterback has become one of the very best quarterbacks in the NFL with a very strong work ethic to mesh with his talent level that very few have.

That brings us to the latest preseason list from Pro Football Focus with the PFF starting quarterback rankings having Watson at the Tier 2 level, with only three quarterbacks mentioned before him.

The quarterback list by Steve Palazzolo of PFF has only Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs), Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks) and Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) mentioned before Deshaun Watson, with only Mahomes and Wilson ranked as Tier 1 quarterbacks, while Jackson is the first Tier 2 quarterback mentioned.

Watson proved last season how much of a leader he is to the Houston Texans, and not only that, Watson showed whoever doubted him that he’s more than capable of leading the Texans to success.

In the PFF article by Palazzolo, the following was said about Watson in his Tier 2 ranking, which makes for great discussion points heading into the 2020 season:

"“Watson creates big plays inside and outside the pocket, but he’ll often try to do too much in the pocket, leading to too many sacks and turnover-worthy plays.”"

The one issue with Watson has been holding onto the football a little too long at times, and it has led to too many sacks in a given season. The issue in changing that approach to Deshaun Watson’s game is it would change the style of play he’s been used to since joining the NFL as a first-round pick.

Houston Texans News: Does Deshaun Watson keep the football too long?

Is Watson holding onto the football a little too long just something all of us will just have to accept? Each quarterback in the league does something that isn’t textbook, so to speak, but they are still are successful in their craft.

Take, for example Brett Favre. He had a few different quirks in his game, but he was still a Super Bowl champion and had a Hall of Fame career. The same could be said about Steve Young in his career, as he many times took too many hits, but he was still able to have a Hall of Fame career as well.

Deshaun Watson is fine with the style of play he has because he’s been successful with it, but if he keeps playing that way where he takes a few too many hits and sacks, injuries will eventually catch up to him too.

Eventually Watson will be able to get rid of the football quicker, and this could be the year with an improved offensive line, running backs who catch passes out of the backfield, and the wide receivers have a lot of speed.

All of that will help Deshaun Watson become an even better quarterback in 2020, and who knows? Maybe after this season, Watson will jump up to being a Tier 1 quarterback in the PFF rankings.