Panicked? Smith had hammered out a deal to trade up to 12 if necessary several hours before the draft. Breer and others said him and the coaching staff were enamored with Watson and had him as their top QB. Will the Texans be proven right in believing he's a franchise QB? I hope so. Next year's class is getting hyped just like next year's class always gets hyped. Kaaya just went number one overall, right? When you see your guy, you go get your guy. I'm glad they did what they felt was necessary.
Matt Ryan...who threw 19 interceptions in his senior year...but went 3rd overall in '08 Negatives: Lacks the arm strength to challenge the deep secondary, as his long throws tend to flutter or hang up long enough for defenders to attack the ball in flight (see 2006 Brigham Young and Wake Forest contests and 2007 Massachusetts and Virginia Tech games)...Needs to do a better job of planting his feet to get more zip behind his long throws...Has inconsistent and adequate velocity when firing the ball deep...Weakest area of his game is exposed when he attempts to fire the deep ball, as the pass tends to lack accuracy...Runs too hot and cold when trying to air the ball out, as his long throws lack trajectory...Needs to improve timing on his deep throws, as he is very inconsistent hitting those targets coming out of cuts...Holds for PATs and field goals, but needs to be quicker fielding and placing the ball...Strong runner with the ball, but runs a bit erect, resulting in fumble issues, as he does not always protect the ball when breaking past the line of scrimmage...Does not have the foot quickness to keep defenses honest as a runner and while he shows good vision as a passer, he will run into a crowd when carrying the pigskin (needs to be more alert to cutback lanes)...When he generates a high push in his delivery or throws off his back foot, his passes lose some zip, resulting in a high amount of tosses getting deflected (see 2007 North Carolina State, Massachusetts, Virginia Tech and Florida State games)...When he holds on to the ball too long waiting for his receivers to break, he will leave his passes behind too often (see 2007 Wake Forest, Virginia Tech SEC Game, Florida State and Maryland contests)...Needs to make quicker decisions when he is flushed out of the pocket and must stop trying to force his throws into tight areas...Needs to protect the ball better; had fumble issues in 2007, especially after getting sacked (see 2007 Georgia Tech, Miami and Michigan State games).
He wasn't their guy though, he was the guy that was left, so they traded up to make sure they got someone. That's not really "You see your guy, you get your guy", that's "Oh ****, our guy is gone, DO SOMETHING!!!!"
I've hardly ever seen lack of arm strength as THE reason for QB's NFL struggles. Its usually inability to read field, make quick progressions and decisions, slow hitchy releases, bad pocket presense and general inaccuracy that dooms QB's before MPH velocity even factors in. I'm not concerned of this issue with Watson. If he's sharp on all those other core facets then he'll be fine.
How do you know this? It's pure assumption on your part. Maybe the Texans were trying to beat out another team that had the mentality of "oh crap, there's no one left"... But from everything I've heard, they had Watson as their guy, maybe even with Mahomes.
Let's just say I've heard more things similar to this That said, if you want to convince yourself that they only had eyes for Watson, be my guest.
No worries then. The second pick he threw in that game really stood out as one where he didn't get enough zip on the ball and the result was an interception. The good news is that it's not like he can't physically throw the ball harder so much as it is flaws in how he sometimes throws the ball that will lead to the slow speed of passes which is unacceptable in the NFL.
I think most teams had Trubisky as their number one. So it's not surprising that the Texans didn't have Watson as their number one QB. But, the Texans probably knew that Trubisky wasn't going to be available to them. So, it really was between Watson and Mahomes for the Texans. I don't know who the Texans really preferred, I don't think you do either. It seems like there was more chatter about the Texans drafting Mahomes before the draft. But, who really knows who the Texans wanted. Just because someone tweets something doesn't mean much to me.
I think Watson was their guy but even if he wasn't. What happened the last time a team picked a QB after their number one option was gone? As recent as last year when Dallas picked Prescott even though Cook was their top choice. How is that working out for Dallas?
Wrong. Our guy was not one of the top 2 qbs. He was slated as the third or fourth best. We got the best QB in the draft. I wouldn't call that reaching. More like he fell into our laps.
He was their guy according to Breer and others who have longstanding ties with people in the organization. The fact that they were enamored with Watson came out not long after his visit. Some thought it was fluff but obviously it wasn't.
We also heard people saying that Mahomes was their guy too....I guess if you leak out interest in enough QB prospects you can claim that any of them are "your guy"
That's a bill Obrien guy Watson must have been on top of his list but not the Texans scouts Hence the tension in the room after the trade up
https://twitter.com/PatDStat/status/857785413070712834 https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/857770611870801920 http://www.scout.com/nfl/texans/story/1775196-texans-draft-class-takes-shape-2017 The Houston Texans draft class intentions were kept close to the vest and how they landed in Houston was a story itself. The NFL Draft is in the books and, after nearly two months of hand wringing, the Houston Texans have ushered in another diverse group of prospects. The draft class of seven players could be one for the more well-known draft classes due to the how the Texans landed their top pick. Credit the Texans for keeping their quarterback of interest out of the spotlight during the draft process (Read Here). Meetings with prospects went unannounced and the team's meeting with Deshaun Watson at the NFL Combine was not confirmed until Watson was selected with the 12th pick. Watson won over the building with how he handled himself with current players and his offensive meeting with the coaches when he arrived for his pre-draft visit. O’Brien expressed many times how much he likes Watson’s recall as a quarterback and it is clear that O’Brien himself was clearly involved in finding out more about Watson. The Texans tracked Watson for a while. Smith attended the National Championship game and was impressed with him from the start to the finish of the game. More importantly, Smith left the game more than happy with Watson’s ability to make big time throws when needed. Questions have been raised about Watson as a passer but Smith is not worried about that after what he saw that game. When adding in Texans team personnel's attendance at the Clemson pro-day and Watson’s visit to NRG, it was clear the Texans took care of the background work on their new quarterback, while keeping their intentions close and hidden from public eye.
Agreed, touch is an important aspect to a successful QB. There are times where a quick pass is needed but having some touch on the ball where your receiver can run under it or to a spot away from a DB to catch it is just as important as "zip". Watson having a quick release should help. Also, how often do teams throw deep (50+ yards?). He can throw the 20-40 yard routes fairly well and should have the ability to improve on this in the future.
They may have liked Mahomes... they probably liked Garret and Thomas and Adams, too. But like those guys, they were never, ever, never going to pick Patrick Mahomes. Whatever his ceiling, the overwhelming consensus is that he's at least a year, probably two away. This team, at least during the BOB era, has never, ever, never taken a long-term approach to QB, not when they signed Fitzgerald, or traded for Mallett, or signed Hoyer, or signed Osweiler - those were all "win now" moves in terms of being able to plug in a QB and not have to develop him with a supporting cast good enough to make the playoffs. The post-draft Watson story paints Smith as a school girl with her first crush; he was absolutely enamored with him, dating as far back as January 2016. There is not a shred of confirmed - or unconfirmed - rumor that Texans viewed him as a plan B or C. As @Yaosthirdleg's post confirms, they loved him pre-draft. And, AND!... they gave up a first round pick to get him; you don't do that for your plan C. Not when really good players are dropping in the draft; not when there's a host of QBs they could have nabbed in round 2 who, if they weren't enamored with Watson, would have been viewed as lateral moves. We should all be cautiously optimistic. He was a tremendous player in college; let's hope he can make the leap and get better.
"You may not always get what you want. But, if you try sometimes....you might find...you get what you need." - Mick Jagger.
