While people all over the nation are anxiously waiting for Thursday's NFL draft, general managers and head coaches are starting to feel the pressure created by the draft board. It can be said that this year, teams are taking a deeper look at the true talent that each prospect can bring to their organization. After watching the impressive duo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot energize the fans of Dallas last season, other teams are looking for a similar result. Deshaun Watson from Clemson has been under the microscope, as it is said that he is one of the top three quarterbacks in the 2017 draft class.
Show me the numbers
On January 9th, 2017, Deshaun showed the world why he should be a top pick in the NFL draft. He was able to lead his team to victory against the high-powered Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship game. He finished the game completing 64% of his passes and threw 3 touchdowns without turning the ball over through the air. He also racked up 420 yards passing in the process. His quarterback rating for the night was a pretty 145.0 as he left the Alabama fans in shock. This huge victory came off of a season where he finished with 4593 yards, 41 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Clemson only experienced one loss last season and it came at the hands of the Pittsburgh Panthers.
They only lost by one point.
Deja Vu?
The outstanding play of Watson reminds some football fans of the years tim tebow had while he played quarterback at Florida. Tebow also lead the Gators to a national title in 2008, a year after he won the Heisman trophy. Deshawn has been nominated twice for the Heisman, once in 2015 and again in 2016, but did not have enough votes to take the trophy home.
Both quarterbacks have thrown for 10,000 yards in their respective college careers as well. Sam Bradford was the only quarterback that was drafted before Tim in the 2010 draft. Tebow was drafted 25th overall by the Denver Broncos. With Deshaun's ability to move around in the pocket, people have begun to find out that Tebow and Watson have more than just a winning attitude in common.
Same story, different results?
Although Tim Tebow and Deshawn Watson put up identical numbers in college, fans hope their NFL careers are different. Tim Tebow was almost an NFL fad. Week after week NFL defenses started to catch on to how limited Tebow was in the NFL. Many blame his lack of success on the offenses he ran while in the league. Many also believe that Deshaun can learn from the mistakes of Tebow and can learn from the teachings of the second year player, Dak Prescott. Prescott also threw for a substantial amount of yards in his college career. He left Mississippi State with 9376 yards passing and 70 touchdowns.
