Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson is already viewed highly by many in the game of football.
Now he’s set to begin his sophomore campaign and take the league by storm, in hopes of becoming one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL.
The former Clemson standout showed his star potential in limited action last season before tearing his ACL in practice on November 2nd. In seven game appearances last season, Watson threw for 1699 yards to pair with a 61.8 completion percentage. At the time of his injury, Watson was tied with Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz with a league-leading 19 touchdown passes.
He had been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week just a month before the season-ending injury. Many believe that if he continued playing well as he was, Watson would have received heavy consideration to be named Rookie of the Year.
Let’s fast forward to present day. After seven months of post-surgery rehab and workouts, we see that all indications point to Deshaun Watson being among the NFL’s elite this season.
Coming out of Houston’s veteran mini-camp, even though he had a stellar rookie season, Watson believes that he can only improve, “Never satisfied, I always feel like I can do better,” he said. “We’ll get better. Those nine weeks I’ve gained a lot on and off the field. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually and I’ve been able to take my game and me as a person to another level.”
According to Bovada’s latest 2018 NFL MVP Odds, Watson has the 6th best odds at 20/1 to bring home to award. He’s in good company at that position, as he’s tied with fellow quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo, Cam Newton, and Matt Ryan.
What is even more impressive is that the players with better odds all have at least one Super Bowl ring on their hands including Aaron Rodgers (13/2), Tom Brady (7/1), Carson Wentz (19/2), Drew Brees (15/1) and Russell Wilson (15/1).
For those that followed Watson’s college career, there is no doubt that he will come back and perform at a high level. In his freshman season at Clemson, Watson tore his ACL, and in the two years time following that injury, Watson had taken the Tigers to the top of the college football mountain with a National Championship in the trophy case.
Following their offseason workout plan, Watson spoke about his rehab saying, "The knee is doing good. I'm able to do some things on the field with the team, physical-wise. For the nine-week goal that we put in from the beginning, I'm pretty much where I want to be. I'm kinda past it inside in the weight room, mentally, and also on the field. So everything's going smoothly right now."
Watson and the Texans will kick-off their 2018 regular season on September 9th on the road against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.