Dear Jets: Why the New York Jets should draft a quarterback

The Houston Texans traded with the Cleveland Browns to jump to the No. 12 spot and drafted the former Clemson quarterback, finally cementing Watson’s immediate future.

Despite sacrificing almost all of their high-end draft capital in 2018 to clear out the quarterback room and make the trade up to get Watson, the Texans are insisting that Tom Savage is still Houston’s starting quarterback. It also acquired a first-round draft pick in 2018 after swapping picks – No. 12 for 25 – with the Texans last night.

Over the last few months, Watson has been analyzed and broken down over and over again. In his two National Championship appearances against the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide defense, he threw for 825 yards, 7 touchdowns, and one interception.

Watson and his mother’s emotional moment make it clear people haven’t always believed in him.

The draft-day trade may not be too big of a price for the Texans, especially if Watson proves to be a solid starter. While Watson was a prolific college player, his accuracy and velocity are questionable with sub-baseline 45 miles per hour ball speed and a tendency to poorly locate passes. If the Texans were bad, the thought process for many would be to let Watson go out and get some on-the-job experience.

“My emotions have just been sky high ever since I got the call, tears have been coming out of my eyes”, said Watson. Film study is the key to being a great quarterback. It certainly stood out in Rick Smith’s mind on Thursday, telling reporters, “This guy finds a way to speak to the situation and accomplish a goal”. Watson does have pressure to try and win the starting job away from Savage, but he seems like the guy that just wants to win and will do it in any role. But he’ll also have Watson breathing down his neck and looking for playing time if he starts to struggle a little.

When asked about the comments, Watson backtracked.