Deshaun Watson was the best quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft. But here are three reasons not to compare him to Jameis Winston.
Deshaun Watson is a hell of a football player. He’s a winner on and off the field, and the biggest reason Clemson ascended to elite status the last two years in college football.
Clemson likely loses to FSU the last two years without Deshaun Watson leading their offense. They definitely lose against NC State this past season without him, and probably a couple more games over the past two seasons.
Watson was everything you would want in a college quarterback, but he’s no Jameis Winston.
Recently, Stanford head coach David Shaw compared Watson to Winston when it came to how his NFL team would receive him. Here’s the excerpt from NFL.com:
"“I’d probably put Jameis ahead of him slightly on offense. Jameis was more in the pocket, but this kid has an X-factor Jameis had too, which is, like it or not, his personality wins over a locker room,” Shaw recently told Sports Illustrated. “They love that guy. And Deshaun is going to do the same thing. His Day 1 in that locker room, guys are gonna say, ‘Oh there’s our quarterback. Coach, you tell me he’s not going to start but I’m following him already.’ That’s the kind of person he is.”"
Not the same
There are lots of similarities between the two quarterbacks. Both led their ACC teams to National Championships over SEC foes, and both are black quarterbacks taken in the first round of the NFL Draft.
The two quarterbacks both have competitive spirits that burn bright, willing their teams to victory on occasions when the outcome looked in doubt.
Both players are incredibly smart, but that’s about where the similarities end.
David Shaw goes on to talk about attending a Clemson spring practice a few years ago, and spoke about how Watson took reps seriously even though he was injured and on the sidelines.
I don’t doubt that for a second. However, when it comes to how Deshaun Watson will be received in the NFL, there are a few factors one must consider when comparing him to Jameis Winston.
Let’s go.
Personality
When it comes to leadership qualities, both players excel but go about it in different ways. Jameis Winston is one of those guys that you know who he is when he walks in the room, and he’s going to let you know it.
I’m sure Watson and up the ante when with his teammates, but he seems to be more reserved and business like in his approach to interviews and when the cameras are on.
I put a video of Winston talking to his teammates after a big win in the NFL in the video below. Also, I used both National Championship post-game interviews for both quarterbacks for apples to apples comparison.
Both guys had to endure adversity and come from behind, leading game winning drives in their respective National Championship wins.
Could you picture Watson talking to his teammates like Winston did? Do you think he could bring that same energy, that same crazed look in his eyes?
Don’t forget about the infamous pre-game speech Winston gave before blasting Clemson his redshirt freshman year. Yea, I don’t see Watson commanding a team like that.
X’s and O’s
I disagree with Shaw when he said Watson is slightly ahead of Winston when it comes to X’s and O’s. I think there’s a significant gap between the two players.
Clemson uses a HUNH (Hurry Up No Huddle) spread offense that’s particularly dangerous with a mobile quarterback.
The offense was brought to Clemson when Chad Morris became their offensive coordinator in 2011, and they kept most of it after he moved on to become the head coach at SMU in 2015.
I don’t want to call it a gimmick offense, but it isn’t a pro-style offense like the one FSU implores with Jimbo Fisher.
Basically, Clemson uses tons of formations, tempo and the threat of Watson running to create mismatches against opposing defenses.
How much of Clemson’s offense is transferable to the NFL level? If Clemson ran no huddle most of the time, how is Watson going to command the huddle in the NFL? How’s he going to perform when he has to recite a play that’s told to him in his helmet instead of looking at signs on the sidelines.
Another considerable factor is Clemson’s propensity to run plays from the shotgun. Watson almost never went under center, even when Clemson was in the red zone which cost them a number of times.
I’m not saying Watson won’t be able to learn these things, but these are two areas where Winston had a huge advantage coming out of college.
It was clear early on Jameis Winston was going to be the day one starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2014. However, it looks like the Houston Texans will take it slow with Watson as he gets acclimated to the pro game.
Watson’s College Success Doesn’t Mean NFL Success
How much of Watson’s college success can be attributed to his ability to run the ball?
When Jameis Winston left Florida State he had rushed the ball 145 times (27 games) over two seasons. In contrast, Deshaun Watson ran the ball 435 times (38 games) during his three years at Clemson.
Watson averaged nearly 12 rushes per game while at Clemson, and frankly was a large reason for their success the past three years.
If you look at every big game Clemson had to win, Dabo Swinney ran Deshaun Watson in the dirt:
2016
- Auburn-11 rushes
- Louisville-14 rushes
- Florida State-17 rushes
- Virginia Tech-17 rushes
- Oklahoma-15 rushes
- Alabama-21 rushes
2015
- Louisville-12 rushes
- Notre Dame-16 rushes
- Florida State-16 rushes
- South Carolina-21 rushes
- North Carolina-24 rushes
- Oklahoma-24 rushes
- Alabama-20 rushes
That’s a lot of running
If you take away Watson’s ability to run the ball, how effective is he going to be in the NFL? Jameis Winston can run too, but he can carve you up from the pocket even better.
He did it at Florida State and he’s doing it in the NFL. Winston is the youngest player with 3,000 and 4,000 passing yards in NFL history.
You don’t see Cam Newton running like he used to in the NFL. What about Colin Kaepernick or even Russell Wilson?
Wilson has gone from over 100 rushing attempts in 2014 and 2015 to just 72 in 2016. Cam Newton went below 100 rushing attempts for the first time in his career last season.
NFL defenses have adjusted to spread concepts introduced a few years ago, and if quarterbacks get blasted if they can’t drop back and throw the ball.
Jameis Winston could beat you from the pocket as a rookie, I don’t think the same can be said for Deshaun Watson.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the best way for a quarterback to earn the respect of his teammates is to get wins. The Buccaneers won two games in 2014 prior to Jameis Winston becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
He led them to six wins his rookie season and nine wins in 2016. Winning cures everything and he was able to do it because he instantly changed expectations in that organization.
What will happen with Watson if he’s not able to win the starting job by the time the season begins? Will it take him longer to earn the respect of his teammates?
What happens if teams force him to throw from the pocket and he’s not as successful as the Texans thought he would be?
Watson does benefit from going to a playoff caliber team with an outstanding defense, so he shouldn’t have to win games by throwing the ball 30-35 times per game.
Winston averaged 33.4 pass attempts per game his rookie season. If Watson if forced to throw that much his rookie year what do you think the results would be?
Next: Has Clemson Closed The Recruiting Gap?
I don’t think they would be favorable because Watson isn’t Jameis Winston entering the NFL.