We had our first chance to see the NFL version of Deshaun Watson Wednesday night when the Houston Texans squared off against the Carolina Panthers in preseason action. Carolina won 27-17, but the scoreboard is far from the most important thing in a preseason game.
RELATED: AFC South Rookie Rankings: Who Will Have an Immediate Impact?
MORE: Predicting 2017 Breakout Stars in the AFC South
Watson still had to wait a bit to get in the game as the Texans gave the ball to Tom Savage to start. He led the Texans on two three-and-out drives before Carolina's starters left the game, then took Houston on a 13-plays, 75 yard drive capped by an Alfred Blue rushing touchdown. Savage went 8-for-8 on the drive, again, against backups.
Watson got his chance in the second quarter — and I'll stress again, against backups — and looked pretty good. After two of his first four passes were either short completions or sailed overthrows, he started to settle in.
Watson went on to finish the game completing 15 of 25 passes for 179 yards. He wa sacked three times and ran it three times for 24 yards, including a touchdown run.
While he was sacked three times, what I found to be most impressive about his performance was the way he extended plays, just like we saw back at Clemson. Watson danced around pressure in the backfield and found open receivers, and in the case of a late first half red zone appearance, tossed the ball out of the back of the endzone and took the three points.
Watson is far from a finished product, and may not even be the starter in week one. The Texans will likely give him a chance with the No. 1 offense yet this preseason, which should give us a better look at what Houston traded up in the 2017 NFL Draft to select as their quarterback of the future
Check out this compelation of all Watson's plays in the game:
Every @DeshaunWatson play from his preseason debut!#HOUvsCAR pic.twitter.com/oOcqUQfFoD
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2017
