He doesn't seem like an idiot to me. http://recruiting.blog.ajc.com/2015...stars-in-athletics-and-academics-as-freshman/ Spoiler Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, who was the state of Georgia’s most prolific QB prospect since Cam Newton, is ahead of schedule with his recovery from knee surgery. The former Gainesville High School standout played in eight games for Clemson this past season as a true freshman, and he led the nation in passing efficiency — despite missing four games due to injuries. Watson is rapidly recovering from ACL surgery in December. And he got more good news last week by being named to the 2014 All-ACC Academic football team after posting a 4.0 GPA last fall. “He’s doing great,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told the AJC. “If you know anything about Deshaun Watson, you would expect nothing less, other than to hear he’s way ahead of schedule. “They have measurables as far as things that they look for with where a guy should be at certain checkpoints (with his recovery). He just beats all those checkpoints. That’s just how he’s wired. Genetically, he’s blessed. His DNA and his work ethic … he’s just wired in a special way. “So he’s doing great with his rehab, and yes, he made a 4.0 in the fall, which tells you the type of focus he has. Here’s a guy playing quarterback at this level as a true freshman. There are all the distractions, plus he had an injury. All that stuff, yet he is still able to prioritize and maintain his focus to make a 4.0. He made over a 3.0 his first semester (after enrolling early). “He’s just a special guy in every regard … He came in here focused, and he has gotten off to a great start to his college career.” Last season, Watson completed 93 of 137 passes (67.9 percent) for 1,466 yards and 14 touchdowns, including six touchdowns against North Carolina. Watson was only intercepted twice, and posted an efficiency rating of 188.6. https://www.si.com/college-football...deshaun-watson-setting-early-graduation-trend Spoiler CLEMSON, S.C. — On a recent sun-splashed Monday, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson slips on his headphones to walk to class. He plays Future, but not too loud, so he can hear his classmates and teammates if they say hello. He carries a red bottle of Dragonfruit Vitamin Water and has sour gummy worms stashed in his pockets for a snack. In sweats and a sweatshirt, Watson looks like a typical campus jock sauntering off to class. But as he prepares to finish up his third season with the Tigers and inevitably head off to become a top pick in the NFL draft, Watson's academic experience at Clemson will leave a legacy on campus and perhaps beyond in college football. Watson, a true junior who enrolled early, will graduate with a degree in communications studies in December in just three years on campus. "It's very special," he said of graduating. "It's good for me and my whole family and the whole generation coming up. Setting an example for my little brother and little sister to be able to do the same thing." He'll be the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year college, but perhaps more impressive is his plan to graduate around his accelerated college playing timeline. Watson said he took 18 credits in the fall of 2015, 19 this spring and 20 over the summer to prepare himself. His calculated decision to earn his degree in just three years, the amount of time he expected to be in college, highlights one trend and could be a touchstone for another to begin. In a time when elite college football players are increasingly spending less time on campus, some are tailoring their academic careers around shorter stays. Star LSU tailback Leonard Fournette, a true junior who did not enroll early, is on track to graduate this spring or summer according to LSU officials. UCLA sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen, the potential No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, is on track to graduate in three years with a degree in economics after enrolling early. Watson's teammate and close friend, star receiver Artavis Scott, is also graduating in three years. "They are definitely three-and-done," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says of Watson and Scott. "That was their plan. I support that." Watson certainly isn't the first player to leave for the NFL with a degree after three years. (Utah's Alex Smith, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2005 NFL draft, is a three-and-done who left with his degree). But it's still considered rare. Officials at Florida, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, Penn State and UCLA told SI.com they could not find any examples of players who spent just three years on campus and graduated before declaring early for the draft. Watson and Scott will be the first Clemson players to do it. "I'm really proud of those guys," Swinney said. "It's hard to do. I don't think it'll be a trend because I know how hard it is to do." Part of what makes Watson's early graduation story so interesting is that it's linked to the bigger trend of sped up collegiate timelines for top players. Watson arrived at Clemson in January 2014 as the archetype of the modern five-star football prospect after smashing Georgia state records by gaining 17,134 yards of total offense and accounting for 218 touchdowns in high school. ESPN ranked him as the top dual-threat prospect in the country, and he enrolled in January and won the starting job by September.
http://www.espn.com/blog/acc/post/_...un-watson-on-brink-of-off-field-greatness-too Spoiler One of Maria Herbst's favorite things about Deshaun Watson -- and to be sure, there are several -- is how the Clemson quarterback will text her after every completed task, even if it’s premature. Homework, papers, classes passed -- Herbst hears about it all from Watson in her role as Clemson’s learning specialist coordinator. On several occasions late this summer, Watson would text Herbst that he was "down to five," a countdown of how many credits separated him from graduation. True to her roots in academia, Herbst would remind Watson that grades weren’t in yet, prompting a celebratory "Yes!" text from Watson last week, once the ink was finally dry on summer scores. There is the Watson who competes before the nation on Saturdays -- the quarterback who enters 2016 as the Heisman favorite, as draftniks' early 2017 front-runner, as the dual-threat force hoping to close the deal with the Tigers after a runner-up finish in 2015. And there is the Watson who competes behind the scenes the other six days of the week -- the pupil who arrived at Clemson in January of 2014, joked that he wanted to graduate in three years and, on the eve of his junior season, is on the doorstep of his degree in communication studies. Dabo Swinney responded to a question about Watson at last month’s ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina, by asking assembled reporters: "How many of us here were five hours short of graduating in two-and-a-half years? Raise your hand. Quick." After a moment of silence, the coach cracked: "That’s what I thought." Watson refers to Herbst as his "backbone." Herbst said that, in her nearly 13 years working at Vickery Hall, Clemson’s athletic academic center, she has yet to come across a student-athlete who has graduated in three years. The closest comparison she could come up with to Watson’s on- and off-field work ethic was current NFL running back C.J. Spiller, who earned his sociology degree in 3.5 years. "It started with my mom; she always wanted me to get my degree and graduate," Watson said of his academic ambitions. "You can’t really take the education part away from something. You can take football away from me, but once you have the education, you really can’t. At first, after my freshman year, it was kind of a joke, going into my sophomore year like: 'Hey, I wanna graduate in three years, two-and-a-half.' And we were just kind of playing with it, added some extra classes in, and then once I finished that following spring going into that next summer, it was just like, 'Hey, I can actually do it.' "I took some extra classes, and since I was gonna be at Clemson year-round and have the time, why not just take advantage of it full and remain?" Upon hearing these lofty ambitions nearly three years ago, Herbst struck a deal with Watson: He must accept her pushing and prodding, and his complaints must be kept to a minimum. "It really got to be a joke: Every now and then he’d add on an extra trip for this award or that award," Herbst said. "I told him: 'At some point you just have to say no. Don’t you have enough awards already?' And he’d just laugh at me." There are still, of course, times when Watson acts his age (20). His growing profile has naturally led to more cell phone usage in study hall. He at times carries what Herbst describes as a "devil sense of humor," and she knows just which buttons to press in any ensuing back-and-forth. "He’ll say: 'I’m not gonna do this. It’s good enough. I’m gonna take the 'L' on that one,'" Herbst said. "And all I’ll have to do is just look at him, like: Yeah, I don’t believe you’re ever gonna take an 'L.' And he’s like: 'Yeah, I guess I’ll do it.'" She has noticed his competitive attitude rub off on teammates, who try to one-up each other while in Vickery. Among the more unique classes Watson took was a series of American sign language courses, which at Clemson count as world language credits. He said understanding the alphabet was the most challenging part at first, and that looking at facial expressions, and not hands, helped him better understand what someone would be trying to say. Out-of-classroom experiences included social events at local restaurants with the deaf community. "We went to Chick-fil-A, Pizza Hut, Grouchos -- maybe eight events to communicate with deaf people," Clemson receiver Mike Williams said, adding, "To know your signs and be able to communicate with them, that was good." Williams was one of several teammates to take the ASL classes with Watson, who offered a smile and a laugh when asked if there was something calculated behind a quarterback and his receivers learning nonverbal communication together. "Nah, I mean it could. It could," he said. "But we don’t use that." Watson has one more season of football eligibility after this fall, but with his expected graduation in December, a leap to the NFL is all but certain. When he’s not looking to improve on his 18-2 record as a starter this upcoming semester, he’ll be enjoying the lightest course load of his college career, highlighted by a "relaxation and meditation" class. Said Herbst: "I had to break the news to him that we had a student who took it this summer and he actually had to write a paper at the end." http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article123623174.html Spoiler SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. If you want to get Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson fired up, ask him about credit hours. So much of Watson’s story seemed predestined. His talent, as a passer and a runner, was such that it was no surprise he’d play on teams competing for a national championship or that he’d be a Heisman Trophy candidate. But that other side of being a student-athlete – the academics – often seem like an afterthought in major-college football. Watson didn’t want that to be his story. He wanted to finish college appropriately – with a degree – before moving on to the NFL. So he took a workload that would make most college kids spit up their Bud Light. This month Watson received his degree in communications. It was just as big a deal as playing in Saturday’s national semifinal against Ohio State, he said. “I took 20 hours this summer,” Watson recalled Wednesday. “In the spring, I took 18. Last fall I took 19.” Now, think about that: The season in which Watson led the Tigers to a 14-1 record and the national championship game, he took more credit hours than he played football games. When was there even time to sleep? “It was a lot of early mornings and late nights,” Watson said. “I just tried to nap here and there.” This devotion to a total college experience was about both the micro and the macro. On the big scale, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is a stickler about academics. The Tigers have been top 10 each of the past two years in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate. On a smaller scale, Watson’s mother pushed him hard to not waste the opportunity to get a degree. “She didn’t particularly care when I got it done so long as it got done,” Watson said. Watson and his roommate, wide receiver Artavis Scott, made a pact as freshmen that they would push each other to stay ahead academically. It became the best sort of peer pressure. “You have to make a lot of sacrifices. You want to go out with your friends, but you have to stay in and study,” Watson said. “It’s something Artavis ... and I decided on – to keep each other on task.” This fall, by comparison, was a breeze. Watson took just five credit hours, including a course on Political Composition he particularly enjoyed because of material the presidential election provided. Now it’s on to a matchup with Ohio State. One way or another it was inevitable he’d play in this game; the Buckeyes were his second choice in recruiting. Watson grew up in Georgia infatuated with Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer, who was at Florida from 2005-2010. It was about how Meyer got the best out of quarterback Tim Tebow in what came to be called a "Spread Power" offense. “I grew up an Urban Meyer fan. I was always a Tim Tebow fan,” Watson said. “He’s a winner. So growing up, that’s who I wanted to play for. I’d tell my mom, ‘I’m going to Florida.’ “But coach Swinney and coach Morris came around, and I fell in love with that university." That would be Southern Methodist coach Chad Morris, then Clemson’s offensive coordinator. He recruited Watson relentlessly, seeing him as an ideal fit for the offense the Tigers preferred. Watson’s debut as a freshman in 2014 was in a loss to Georgia. He entered mid-game and quickly threw a post-pattern pass for a touchdown. Afterward, Morris told a circle of reporters he’s so glad he never missed one of Watson’s high school basketball games while recruiting him. In three seasons, Watson has accounted 9,484 passing yards, 86 touchdowns and one precious diploma. Now it’s on to the next thing. Someone asked Watson if he imagines himself the top pick in the NFL draft in April. “I feel like that. Every player should have that mindset,” he replied. “You don’t want to take a backseat to anyone. You respect the other guys at your position, but you should always come with that confidence that I’m the best guy who can fulfill that job and be that pick.
http://thespun.com/acc/clemson/photo-clemson-boasts-about-deshaun-watsons-academic-performance Spoiler A day after Miami bragged about its starting quarterback’s success in the classroom, Clemson is doing the same. The Tigers posted a graphic on Instagram touting Deshaun Watson’s “Brains and Brawn.” Watson, one of the Heisman Trophy frontrunners this fall, took 37 class credit hours and made Clemson’s Dean’s List. Clemson students need to have a GPA of 3.5 or better to make the Dean’s List. Watson and the Tigers open their 2016 campaign Sept. 3 at Auburn. http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...deshaun-watson-academic-trendsetter/95916478/ Spoiler Deshaun Watson created an interesting buzz around Fiesta Bowl media availability Wednesday that had nothing to with his on-the-field skills. Great respect was expressed about the Clemson quarterback graduating two weeks ago … after only three years on campus. Could this be a trend for players who, like Watson, expect a shorter college stay so they can pursue their NFL dreams? Tigers wide receiver Artavis Scott also graduated in December. In anticipation of leaving school earlier than most, Watson went on an accelerated plan, and took 18 credits in the fall of 2015, 19 this past spring and 20 in the summer. That left him only eight hours this fall. He was the first to graduate in his family. Bravo. It wasn’t only his school books that had his attention, though. Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said one of the most unappreciated aspects of Watson is his game preparation. “He’s always walking around with his playbooks,” Elliott said. “Not many people can fool him because he’s prepared. Plus a little bit of hardship has given him an edge.”
I can't wait for preseason, just to see how he looks. Nobody really knows how he will look until he is in there behind our offensive line. I just hope he doesn't come in with all the backups in preseason. I want to see what he can do starting a game. Only then, will I even start to make any judgement. I don't care about all the scores people judge him on. The coaching, game plan, and players protecting him will be my eye test, as to seeing what he has and what he struggles with. I'm hoping I see something to get excited about! Preseason can't get here soon enough for me.
I'm surprised too. You would think it would be all the hype since he was our first round pick, especially considering our lack of priorities of drafting a QB in the past.
I hear what you're saying but the data points are way too scattered to say the wonderlic proves one thing or another. Yes in almost any job, you'd rather have a smarter person doing it for many of reasons, but wonderlic scores (historically and recently) have not proven to project a player's "ceiling" or "ability to age their game better" at all. Looking at starting QBs drafted the last 6 years, you have Luck/Wentz/Goff with pretty high scores, Mariota/Winston/Wilson/Bortles with middle of the pack scores, and then Cam/Carr/Prescott with below average to low. The scores are all over the place but I don't think you can say that the last group's "ceiling" is any lower than the others or that the other's games are "likely to age better." Obviously there are a ton of factors to account for, but interestingly enough, you could argue that the 3 "dumb guys" are having the most success at their respective points in their career, outside of Wilson of course.
@Bobbythegreat Please stop calling people w/ a low Wunderlic score dumb. I think that's what Scarface and others are trying to say. Remove Deshaun from the situation entirely... the Wunderlic is only one intelligence metric. It cannot, on its own, determine if someone is smart or dumb. I really think everyone on this board/thread more or less agrees on the relationship between the wunderlic and your success as an NFL player... i.e. it's one small piece of a very large puzzle. I think the reason that it has started an argument today (at least in part) is because you are recklessly calling people "dumb" for no other reason than they scored low on one test... once. Some people probably find it insulting when you reduce someone's intelligence to 50 questions and 12 minutes. Not trying to be disrespectful or start an argument with you, Bobby. Just trying to rationally explain why some of the people in this thread are reacting negatively to your wunderlic assertions.
Deshaun Watson impressed demanding Bill O'Brien right from the start Added O’Brien: “It was actually the whole offensive staff that met with Deshaun when he came, which I don’t think is easy for a young man to come in. Obviously, a bona fide draft prospect, a guy to come in here and have to stand up in front of ... nine guys in the room: offensive line coach, receiver coach, quarterback coach, head coach. “One of the things that impressed us the most was his ability to retain information with poise. We do several different things with our conversations with our quarterbacks. He handled it all very well. That impressed us.” http://www.espn.com.au/blog/houston...or-better-head-coach-qb-relationships-in-2017 but he's "dumb"
Communications degree or not, this is tough to manage while playing football at the highest level in college and getting to school work any other time you're not having practice, meetings, games, etc. You can't tell me that every single one of his teachers gave him a free pass for all those credits just because he was Heisman Trophy Finalist Deshaun Watson, if you want to make that argument. It's ok, we can keep calling him dumb because of social media tweets and wunderlic scores. After all idiots know idiots best!
I've heard lots of things about the wonderlic over the years. that its useless. that its helpful. that its racist. etc. i figured why the heck not, let's give it a shot. http://wonderlictestsample.com/wonderlic-test-sample/50-question-wonderlic-test/ I got a 41 as I ran out of time. I am very good at taking tests, and anticipated 45 or higher. this isn't a pat my back thing, just a note that even though the questions are generally pretty "routine" math/logic questions, the time limit can be... limiting. [note: not sure if they are allowed a calculator, i did not use one]. Second point to note... the test is clearly not inherently racist. It's just biased towards those with a loving upbringing in a discipline family that has pushed for quality work and effort to be done in a classic standardized testing kind of way. It is biased in that way for privileged upbringings and against less privileged upbringings. Third point... I didn't really see any sample question that in any way was related to football. even indirectly. other than the fact that you do need to understand english, and math to play football. that's about it. Does it speak to overall generally IQ levels - maybe. And maybe that relates to football success. But a guy who is athletically gifted who spends every waking second of his childhood focused on football could easily get an extremely low score on the wonderlic and be great at football. Or vice versa. Or be horrible. Next point... do they not have a "football" wonderlic? Meaning something similar - 50 multiple choice questions to be answered in 12 minutes where each question relates to football in some way? Next point... relative to Watson, I think his work ethic and graduation in 3 years all point to someone who is intelligent. I suspect he did not have "standardized" testing hammered into him growing up. I'm assuming, and this is a BIG BIG assumption, that he was hurt by the time limit more than anything. Either he didn't get through questions quickly or realized time was running out and started to do too much guessing. The one somewhat concerning thing, though, is as evidenced by my link above... this is all PRACTICE-ABLE. He seems intelligent. Either he or his camp didn't put enough effort into practicing this regularly in the weeks leading up to him taking it. Not that a wonderlic score should be thing #1 he focuses on, but you get the point. Or he did practice... which would be even more concerning. None of which is as concerning as the o-line.
How do I take the actual test? I wanna see how dumb I am! Maybe that gives me a hint since I can't actually get the test to work. But I click Wonderlic Test and it takes me to some Step 1 for my dream career.
Derek Newton takes pay cut Injured Texans offensive tackle Derek Newton has restructured his contract, reducing his base salaries in each of the next three seasons. Placed on the reserve-physically unable to perform list due to torn patellar tendons suffered last season that will sideline him for the entire year, Newton was originally due $4.75 million in base salaries for 2018, 2018 and 2019. Newton is now due a guaranteed $1.75 million base salary this year and nonguaranteed base salaries of $2.25 million and $2 million in 2018 and 2019. It's now a three-year, $10 million deal in the renegotiation of his original five-year, $26.5 million contract extension signed in 2015. Newton has a $500,000 roster bonus this year and an annual $250,000 base salary de-escalator clause if he fails to complete workouts. In 2018, Newton has a $500,000 roster bonus as well as a $2 million total per game active roster bonus. In 2019, Newton has a $1 million total per game active roster bonus. Newton's salary-cap figures are $3 million for 2017, $5.5 million for 2018 and $3.75 million for 2019.
Brown will be the 9th highest paid LT next season, think that is exactly where he should be. Let's hope it doesn't spill over into training camp but if so, toss some of Newton's saving his way and draft a LT next summer.
If he's just looking to get money guaranteed, fine, but I'm not interested in giving him a big raise. He is still good, but he isn't elite and he doesn't deserve to be paid like the very best in the league.
He knows he's reaching the end of his time in the league and he knows he has no guaranteed money left. If he got hurt the Texans could cut him and not have to pay him another dime. I think he has to hold out for at least a little bit of guaranteed money.
