Deshaun Watson Named in the Top 5 'Transcendent Talents' at Quarterback
Former Clemson Tiger quarterback Deshaun Watson was one of the greatest to ever wear the paw.
Over his three year, two year starting, career, Watson guided Clemson to consecutive College Football Playoff appearances, with the school’s second National Championship in 2016 and led Clemson to 28 wins over his final two seasons.
The two-time Heisman Trophy finalist; finished third in the 2015 balloting with 148 first-place votes and second in 2016 with 269 first-place votes. He was the first ACC player to finish in the top three of the voting on multiple occasions, a two-time recipient of the Davey O’Brien Award, one of only four quarterbacks who can make that claim, and the first since Oklahoma’s Jason White in 2003,04. He was also two-time winner of the Manning Award — while he compiled a 32-3 record as a starter, best winning percentage in school history for a quarterback.
Watson threw for 10,163 yards and 90 career touchdowns, ranks first in Clemson history in career completion percentage (. 674), passing efficiency (157.5) and total offense per game (318.3).
However, it is not his collegiate accolades that have garnered him the attention of the football world — his three years in the NFL have been almost as successful.
In 2019, Watson completed 314-for-463 passing (67.8 percent) for 3,668 yards, 26 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and 100.4 passer rating this season. He is the first player in NFL history to record consecutive seasons with at least 25 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns (2018-19) and tied Steve Young (1994, 1998) for the most such seasons in NFL history.
Watson owns five games with over 250 passing yards and 40 rushing yards this season, which leads the NFL and ties Randall Cunningham (five in 1988) for the most in a season in NFL history. Watson also has seven rushing touchdowns in 2019, which is a single-season franchise record for a quarterback, and five games with three-or-more touchdown passes this season, which is tied for the second-most in the NFL in 2019.
His prolific collegiate career, combined with his red-hot start to his NFL career, earned him a spot on a prestigious list of the "Top 5 Transcendent QB Talents," as listed by former NFL return specialist and current analyst for the NFL Network Bucky Brooks.
Brooks' top five quarterbacks were released on Twitter as follows: "1. Patrick Mahomes, KC 2. Russell Wilson, Seattle 3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay 4. DeShaun [sic] Watson, Houston 5. Matt Stafford, Detroit."
