Watson Or Savage? Who would you like to see lead the Texans week 1

The Dak vs Watson comparisons are silly. Our offensive line is pure garbage while Dallas has the best in the league. I am fairly certain if Watson had time to take a **** and wipe his ass before the defense got to him, he would be more accurate down field.

 

Yes footwork and yes I'm serious. You talking about pocket presence and poise is completely irrelevant to conversation about his footwork and his lack of accuracy....I hope you realize this.

 

I think Watson had one completion under center that wasnt a roll out. Everything called for him was out of shotgun. Looks like he has some learning to do, as expected, under center. More positives than negatives from his first showing. Hes surpassed my expectations and his me excited to see what he can really do once everything is learned and efficient. Having a bright outlook at the QB future is as refreshing for the fanbase as chilled cucumber water.

 

Man Bobby indeed. Every time I hear that crap coming out his mouth I want to sling a brick at him.

 

Deshaun seems to be a very hard worker and footwork is repetition. His progress is promising and he's only going to get better with his work ethic.

 

I don't doubt it, which is why it's so important that he be given the time to nail that stuff down. Basically I liked everything I saw from him aside from basically everything in the pocket. That's the part of his game he needs to develop before being a starting QB. The stuff he can do outside the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield and throwing on the run is great, but that can't be your bread and butter, that needs to be your cherry on the top.

 

I agree. The key for Watson is REPS, REPS, REPS! Mental reps and actual reps can only help his development. He's got the tools but I think the Texans should take their time with him. There is so much to like but so far to go, let him learn.

 

A lot of what wasn't good last night resulted in footwork. Bad footwork = no accuracy. Apart of it was his lack of discipline, the other part was terrible offensive line play giving him little time in the pocket although he did have time on some plays and footwork was still an issue. The good thing about that is footwork is very much coachable, as many rookie QB's lack quality footwork coming into the league. And although he didn't show it in body language, you could tell on his throws that he was amped up just a little.

At the end of the day Watson has elite QB potential. His ability to extend plays is already great, he's getting better at reading defenses although it's still a work in progress, intangibles etc. The ceiling is very high for Watson. Having said all that, I don't want to see him starting for at least the first 3 weeks. I want him to clean up the footwork, which will result in better accuracy. He's got work to do, but he's starting before the bye-week IMO cause I think he's going to be better than Savage sooner rather than later.

Savage held the ball waaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy too long on the first 2 possessions. Yes the offensive line played poorly, but Savage held the ball too long. He's a slightly poor man's Alex Smith IMO, but he's the starter till Deshaun is ready which will be sooner rather than later

 

As to the footwork point, it's also why he was more accurate throwing on the run than standing in or stepping up in the pocket. He's a natural thrower so his body naturally does the right things for the most part while he's on the move but that's not the case when he's more stationary.

As to Savage, you are absolutely right. His first 2 possessions were terrible and had most questioning what the team saw in him. On the 3rd possession though, he started getting the ball out quicker and it was more apparent why they say he's ahead of Watson right now. If I had to have one of them take a 5 step drop and made an intermediate to deep pass, I would pick Savage all day long....but the moment Watson gets his footwork squared away and starts doing a better job going through his progressions he'll own the starting job.

One thing that really impressed me about Watson that I absolutely did not expect to see was him properly reading the defense. Now sure, it was 2nd string guys and it's preseason vanilla BS, but that's something Watson was occasionally pretty bad at in college. There were multiple plays where he did a great job of it last night, even if they didn't necessarily lead to big plays. It's a credit to his work ethic.

 

Last night he had more time per throw than the quarterback with the longest time per throw in the league had last year.

Dumb excuse.

 

Against the Panthers practice squad.

 

And was still inaccurate.

Someone said he was inaccurate, someone else said if he had more time he wouldn't be.

That's dumb. He had plenty of time. He was just inaccurate.

 

Perhaps I should have clarified. Extending plays with his feet is great and all but leads to inaccurate passes if he isn't setting his feet, etc. If he had time (like Dak did last year) to stand there, square up and throw, I am sure Watson would be more accurate. I am basing this straight off of the 3/4 games I watched Dak play in because there was no other game on. He did have quite a bit of time to stand back there and not move at all to analyze the field a few times from what I recall.

I also think Watson was probably a little nervous. He did have some balls that were just blatantly over thrown. There really isn't an excuse for that. I just think he was nervous. That one deep pass he threw was perfect but Anderson mistimed his jump.

 

Techniques can be refined. You can't teach a "winning demeanor."

 

I would like to see Savage start, and work in Watson gradually. What do I mean by gradually? Well, bring in Watson every game....LOL. Do it like preseason and get him a couple quarters every game until he is ready to start. Why not? Use both of them for different situations until Watson is ready to take over.

 

I need to see more of Watson, but if he continues to play like he did last night he night he needs to start.

 

I'm not knocking Watson, but he was definitely inaccurate and that's been a knock on him. He needs to get his footwork figured out so he can aim the ball better.

 

There's inaccurate and then there is Osweiler inaccurate. I was glad Watson was not throwing balls at receivers feet all game long. I like his demeanor on the field a lot. He didn't look rattled even when pressured and he always kept his eyes down field.

 

# Rick Smith