Deshaun Watson: the rise and stunning fall of the NFL's most exciting player

The Texans quarterback had been on pace to rewrite the rookie quarterback record book until suffering a season-ending ACL tear in practice on Thursday

An NFL season marked by big-name player injuries and declining TV ratings was dealt more of the former on Thursday when Texans rookie DeShaun Watson tore his ACL, an incident that will likely lead to more of the latter.

Through eight weeks of the 2017 season, Watson proved to be the most exciting player in the NFL at the sport’s marquee position and the league’s new appointment-viewing player. Most every record for rookie quarterbacks was in his sights, too.

Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson share the rookie mark for touchdown passes with 26, but Watson was on pace to break that by Thanksgiving. Through seven games, and just six starts, the former Clemson star tied for the league lead in passing touchdowns with 19 after hitting for four on Sunday in Seattle against the vaunted Seahawks secondary.

Since his first game as a starter resulted in just 125 passing yards against the Bengals in a win, Watson proved to be a quick study – and benefitted from head coachBill O’Brien opening the playbook to him. In the five games since, he’s averaged 294 yards passing per game, meaning Andrew Luck’s rookie record of 4,374 yards could’ve fallen, too. Meanwhile, Watson averaged 38 rushing yards per game, best among all QBs, picking up 7.5 yards per gallop with his 4.6 speed. It was difficult for defense to lay a hand on him.

But then on Thursday, without a hand laid on him in practice, Watson went down to a torn ACL. The player who almost single-handedly transformed the Texans from the NFL’s 28th-ranked offense of 2016 to one of the highest-scoring teams in the league this year, lost for the season. The league’s new superstar, shelved until 2018 on a non-contact play during a light afternoon practice. The most exciting player in football, suddenly the most depressing story in the NFL.

Yes, even in an NFL that includes the Cleveland Browns, a team that could have – and, with any intelligence, would have – Watson. The Browns, America’s greatest comedy troupe, brought the house down again this week by somehow managing to botch a trade for the decidedly underwhelming AJ McCarron. Yet while the Browns were reaching for the Bengals backup, the sad fact is that Watson and Eagles second-year quarterback Carson Wentz – the man Watson is tied with for the NFL lead in touchdown passes – were both drafted with picks acquired from ... wait for it ... the Cleveland Browns.

Yes, the franchise that saw fit to spend first-round picks on Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Brady Quinn and Tim Couch, actually gave their picks to other teams to take two of the best quarterbacks of the last two drafts, Dak Prescott excluded. Trading out of last year’s No2 pick to let Philadelphia draft Wentz can at least be argued as logically sound. The North Dakota State product was far from a known quantity and his breakout this season can be attributed at least in part to Philadelphia’s fortunate schedule.

But Watson was far more of a guarantee to anyone with eyes who had the good fortune of having those eyes treated to Watson’s play in college. Sure, some of the hype from certain corners felt a bit overblown. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney famously said that if the Browns passed on Watson at No1, it would be like “passing on Michael Jordan.”

Six professional starts is a long way from six championships, but no one was laughing at Swinney’s comments in recent weeks. Of course, the Browns didn’t only pass on Watson at No1 to pick defensive end Myles Garrett out of Texas A&M, they did it again 11 picks later when the Texans took Watson with the No12 overall pick – a pick they got from Cleveland during draft night – in exchange for the No25 pick and a 2018 first-rounder. With their first pick of the second round, the Browns finally took a quarterback: DeShone Kizer out of Notre Dame, who has been benched this year almost as many times as Watson has thrown a touchdown.

Yet Cleveland’s tragic Watson tale might not even be the worst when it comes to the 2018 draft. Another NFL franchise traded a huge bounty to move up to the No2 pick in the draft to take a quarterback ... and then proceeded to take: Not Deshaun Watson. Yes, the Chicago Bears went all in for the No2 spot, sending the No3 overall pick to San Francisco along with two third round picks and a fourth, to pick Mitchell Trubisky. Through four starts, Trubisky has yet to throw for more than 164 yards in a game. It’s foolish to give final judgment on anyone’s career through four starts – or Watson’s through six, injury or no – but there’s not a person alive (who isn’t employed by the Chicago Bears) who would say now that Trubisky will develop into a better player than Watson.

But even Houston, the team that traded up to steal Watson at No12, can’t say they got it 100% right on the rookie. It is less than 55 days since O’Brien himself felt that Houston’s best chance to win in Week 1 was to start Tom Savage at quarterback. That’s a roster decision akin to starting BJ Armstrong over Michael Jordan.

O’Brien quickly saw of the error his ways – something Cleveland and Chicago have likely done since, as well – and swapped Savage out for Watson in the second half of the opener. The rookie’s week-to-week improvement and performance was nothing short of stunning since.

“You played the best game any quarterback has ever played against us,” Seattle star defensive back Richard Sherman told the quarterback on the field after the Seahawks won Sunday’s 41-38 shootout, a game we now know was Watson’s last of the season. “And we’ve played all the legends.”

The Legend of Deshaun Watson was set to grow through the rest of the season, and maybe into the playoffs thanks to a very winnable AFC South. But all that is on hold now until the start of next season, assuming his surgery and rehab go well.

“You’re gonna have to live with the consequences that come with [passing on me],’’ Watson said after the draft of the Browns and Bears. “That’s how I see it. I respect Mitch and what he’s done and all the hype he’s getting, but at the same time, my result speaks for itself. I feel like I’ve accomplished everything that I could. I guess if that’s who they’re gonna roll with, so be it.’’

The Texans are now living with the consequences of losing Watson to injury. But they have to still feel good knowing what they’re getting next year and beyond. Oh, and by the way, Michael Jordan missed most of a season to a leg injury early in his career, too.