say what you want about them in the NFL but their college resume is on point. Fair comparison though. Now lets hope Watson does the same in the NFL.
Well I guess it's good that some Texans fans believe that this Brock Osweiler is a future HOFer from day one....
You could have said Cam or Jameis. I don't care about the college success if it doesn't translate to the NFL. I'm a Texans fan. Not a Clemson fan. I don't care if he was a 3rd stringer at San Jac as long as he brings the Texans fans a championship.
Why are fans so OBSESSED with deep balls? Most game-winning drives in the NFL look a lot like Clemson's, in large part because teams are giving the underneath stuff specifically to stop the deep ball. The NFL passing game is almost exclusively 6-8-yard passes. No team is built around chucking balls 25 yards down field. It's a good way to get your QB killed. But watch his second down throw to Wilson. that was a perfectly thrown ball into coverage.
Since I saw this post from you last week, I've been scouring youtube for as many Watson highlight reels that I can find. It's a LOT of fun... Anyway, I have a few takeaways: 1) I agree with you... arm strength should not be a problem and he does have "touch" that other rookie QB's don't have. Even Lance Z's scouting report on Watson noted that his velocity issue came from a "correctable" mechanics issue. But leaving that aside, watch the tape. Kid can throw every pass and is extremely entertaining. 2) His running game is very interesting to watch. He's an extremely patient and savvy runner. Not all of it is on the edge either... even between the tackles, you see him patiently look for his blocking to develop and then he picks his hole and accelerates. I don't want him running between the tackles this much at the next level... he'll get killed... but it definitely speaks to his field vision and his ability to understand his place within the offensive scheme. 3) Who is Deon Cain? I know who Mike Williams is but how did I miss Cain? I think I watched that MFer catch 25 TD passes from our boy Deshaun... 4) The comment has been made ad nauseam already, but it's true: this team is 1000% more interesting than it was on April 26th. GO TEXANS!
I have no strong opinion as to whether Watson will throw a good deep ball in the NFL. However, if a quarterback struggles throwing the deep ball, teams can limit a quarterback's ability to throw short and intermediate passes for first downs.
Eh.... First of all, I think fans misunderstand what, exactly, a deep ball is in the NFL. I see many posters talk about 50+-yard passes and those are non-existent. If most of your passing game is within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, then a 15-25-yard pass would be considered "deep" - and do we honestly think he'll struggle to throw those? Further, this isn't new to any defensive coaching staff - they know the vast majority of passes will be within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage; creating mismatches, exploiting mistakes and flawless execution are more more valuable to a QB than being able to occasionally throw a deep pass, IMO. Schaub is the perfect example of what I'm talking about; he did not have a good arm - but playcalling and execution often provided ample opportunities for him to exploit 1-on-1 matches with AJ "deep" - and Schaub, weak arm and all, far more often than not delivered on those opportunities.
He was extremely accurate though. First 3 years in Houston above 66% and he was able to see the field to go deep. 8 yards/attempt his first 3 years here. Excellent numbers. It remains to be seen whether Watson has the accuracy and vision, not to mention the ability to progress through reads. Those are the question marks in his scouting report, along with footwork in the pocket.
Schaub was also one of the most accurate in the league on the "deep ball" something his haters just ignored every time the stat was posted here. Where his arm was "weak" was...gulp...velocity. The year he fell apart, he couldn't get the ball to his receivers on the out routes with enough velocity, allowing defenders to pick that off right and left. That stretch was the extreme example of what you worry about if a guy doesn't have the velocity...defenders eating alive the throws to the outside. His arm was dead though, I'm not suggesting Watson has that type of weakness. Schaub couldn't put force behind a throw anymore and it killed him getting any run in Oakland as well. I am willing to bet that won't be a regular part of the offense with Watson though. That's ok, he can still be good and overcome that, plenty of QBs do, and yes he can get better at it.
