The Houston Texans addressed their need at quarterback by trading with Cleveland to select Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson with the 12th overall pick.
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Joining Watson at the draft are his mother, three siblings, aunt, uncle and cousin as he camps out in the greenroom and anticipates the call on his cell phone.
However, Florio also spoke with Watson about whether his draft position mattered to him, or whether he just wanted to land in a favorable, winning situation. “I’m a victor. I’ve done everything every team and coach have asked me to do, and I’ve done it well”. Both Texans coach Bill O’Brien and General Manager Rick Smith say that isn’t the case.
It clearly was devalued in this draft.
Ironically, Osweiler was traded from the Texans to the Browns earlier this offseason.
Former Cleveland Browns general manager, Phil Savage joined The John Murphy show to talk about the upcoming National Football League draft, and his assessment of the 2017 quarterback class had a twist to what most are saying.
Why? He’s a victor. He immediately gives the team a chance to win games. And for the Browns, despite still not finding a solution at quarterback (Osweiler does not appear to be it), they may have set themselves up perfectly for the future. In fact, he has been nitpicked as much as any quarterback during this pre-draft process. Watson was judged for skipping the Senior Bowl.
One of the red flags with Watson’s game is arm strength. Sixteen touchdowns and only two interceptions. He relied mostly on half-field reads, and there are always concerns about transitioning from a spread offense to a pro-style one.
“I don’t take anything from it”. To trade up like they did and believe in me, it’s wonderful. “I try to stay in my lane”. The only thing stopping me from it is me.
Watson can answer those questions with his training and his play. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney plopped himself down at a glass table in the lobby, clad in a purple Nike Clemson polo, tan jeans and his perpetual aw shucks smile. He completed a 17-yard pass to Jordan Leggett.
“He’s a guy who’s done it all”, Leggett said. He threw a handful of bad interceptions a year ago. “I still have cousins that play at Clemson”, Hopkins said. “When the chips were down he was able to lead his team to victory”. He beat Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Louisville, Ohio State and Alabama. To be called a victor is the highest compliment a quarterback can receive.
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“I think it will be Mitchell Trubisky and Deshaun Watson that go for sure in the first round”, Savage said. But you also have been in Chicago long enough to realize that this point in Bears history is no time for convention.
