Cleveland Browns: Week 3 college football quarterback tracker

1.) Deshaun Watson, Junior, Clemson, 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, 21 years old

Deshaun Watson is considered by most draft experts to be the top quarterback in the 2017 draft class as of right now. The junior quarterback became the Tigers’ full-time starter a season ago when he led them to the National Championship Game, while receiving Heisman finalist honors.

Watson threw for over 4,000 yards and 35 passing touchdowns. A true dual-threat quarterback, Watson emerged on the college football scene by coming up just short in the title game against Alabama, when he had four touchdowns and 405 passing yards. Watson will have all eyes on him this season as Clemson will attempt to make its march back in the college football playoff and as he puts together his resume for NFL scouts and general managers.

Strengths: Watson has natural scrambling ability to avoid pressure. He is very accurate throwing on the run, especially when rolling to his throwing side (right). He has above average arm talent, capable of making all the necessary throws. He has dual-threat ability, displaying great quickness and vision when running read-option plays.

Needs Improvement: Clemson head coach Dabo Sweeney uses a quick read offense which limits his ability to read defenses. Often plays are designed on quick hitters which gets the ball to his playmakers in space. This enables Watson time to work through progressions consistently.

Watson needs to work through progressions better post-snap instead of locking on to his number-one option, often Mike Williams a top receiver prospect respectively. The biggest area for improvement in 2016 goes beyond the stellar production he displayed a year ago. Watson must clean up his game from the pocket, showing poise and accuracy.

Early Comparison: Former NFL scout and current NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah compared Watson to Tennessee Titans quarterback, Marcus Mariota. “Watson has a similar skill set to Marcus Mariota, but Mariota is bigger, faster, stronger and more accurate,” Jeremiah wrote.

2016 Performance: Through the first two weeks of the season, Clemson has played down to their competition against two unranked opponents in Auburn and Troy, winning 19-13 and 30-24. Watson has made enough big plays late in each game to help his team sneak by. However, his play has been inconsistent and sporadic thus far. As the season progresses Watson must improve upon his ability to protect the football and prove he can make smart accurate decisions from the pocket if he wants to be the top quarterback prospect.

Watson has flashed the natural playmaking ability that scouts have been raving about since last season. In Week 1 against Auburn, Watson made a huge play to help his team pull out the victory late in the fourth quarter. On the play, Clemson works from a shotgun four wide receiver set, while the Auburn defense has six defenders on the line of scrimmage.

On the snap, Auburn blitzes seven, including their safety. This leaves man to man coverage on all four of Clemson’s wide outs. Clemson is outnumbered on the blitz. Watson picks up the blitz quickly getting into his five-step drop quicker. In the face of pressure Watson stays poised and throws a great touch pass on a post-corner route in the back left corner of the end-zone to Hunter Renfrow. This was an A+ play by Watson, for his blitz recognition, his poise in the pocket in the face of pressure, and pinpoint accuracy on a touch pass.

This next play comes from last Saturday’s game against Troy. Working inside the pocket on this play, Watson stares down his primary read the entire time, he feels pressure and forces a pass into suffocating coverage. It was a bad decision and the outcome is in interception against a weaker opponent.

Next Game: Saturday, September 17th, 12 p.m, Clemson vs South Carolina State

Next: DeShone Kizer