What does Watson have to do to prove he’s best QB in draft?

Deshaun Watson’s former Clemson teammates have a hard time believing Watson isn’t the best quarterback in the NFL Draft, but that’s what they keep hearing at the NFL Combine.

“All I know is that he is going to prove it,” formers Tigers running back Wayne Gallman said. “That’s all I have to say toward that.”

With two months left until the NFL Draft, Watson still has to prove it, it seems. ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper is in the vast majority of analysts who have former North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky ranked as the No. 1 pro prospect at this year’s talent show in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Kiper, like many, is projecting Trubisky as the No. 2 overall selection in the draft with Watson going No. 10 overall to Buffalo.

“Have you seen what (Watson) has done?” former Clemson wide receiver Artavis Scott asked. “He’s a game-changer. He’s just a great player, and I know he’s the best player in the draft.”

Still, of the five mock drafts posted by NFL.com analysts, four have Trubisky as the No. 1 quarterback, and former NFL general manager Charley Casserly doesn’t have Watson projected as a first-round selection. At CBSSports.com, all six mock drafters agree, Trubisky is expected to be the top pick, with Watson rated No. 2 on most boards.

Trubisky, 6-foot-2, 222 pounds, has one season as the starter at North Carolina, where he led the Tar Heels to an 8-5 record and appearance in the Sun Bowl.

Watson, 6-3, 221, was 28-2 in his final two collegiate seasons with two appearances in the national title game, one national championship, and he twice shredded Nick Saban’s vaunted Alabama defense.

So, what’s a guy got to do to be the No. 1 quarterback in the draft?

Test well, says NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock.

Mayock believes Notre Dame product DeShone Kizer should be the first quarterback taken this year, but he wouldn’t spend a top 10 pick on any of them, he added.

“I’m not bullish on the quarterbacks this year because I don’t think any of them are ready Day 1,” Mayock said.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a high opinion of Watson’s potential.

“I thought he played his best when the lights were brightest against the best defense in the country,” Mayock said. “He does not shrink, but my concern with him, like with all spread quarterbacks, they all have a major adjustment when they get to the NFL. He has to prove he can win in the pocket.”

With no more games between now and the draft, Watson will have to prove that to teams in meetings here, Mayock said.

“There are a bunch of quarterback coaches that can’t wait to meet him, can’t wait to get into a room with him and a have a conversation,” Mayock said.

That process has started. On Friday, Watson described a meeting with a team he declined to identify in which a coach quickly taught him a mini-playbook: Six formations, five plays and the defensive reads that accompany them and then quizzed him on it.

“He had me turn the page and teach the whole thing,” Watson said. “I thought I did pretty well. He was very impressed.”

There will be more of those meetings, all in 15-minute increments, the time limit set for formal visits at the combine. Watson had 10 such meetings scheduled consecutively with teams for Friday night.

San Francisco 49ers General Manager John Lynch, who controls the No. 2 selection in the draft, already is impressed with Watson, he said.

“You watch what he’s done, just putting a team on his shoulders and taking down a great champion (Alabama),” Lynch said. “It’s all part of the equation. I love winners, and he has that. There’s certain guys that just carry themselves differently and have a presence about them. I put him in that category.”

Still, there remain the facts that NFL teams are skittish about spread-offense quarterbacks, that Watson threw more interceptions from a “clean pocket” than any quarterback in this year’s draft class (14), according to an analysis by Pro Football Focus, and he throws too many interceptions to unseen underneath coverage and struggles when he has to go to a second read, according to Mayock.

Watson believes he can alleviate whatever concerns teams might have about him and wants to be the first quarterback off the board in April.

His head coach believes he should be the No. 1 pick. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney compared Watson with Michael Jordan at the Senior Bowl, a reference Watson had to answer for here Friday.

“I laughed at it, but I’m not Michael Jordan. I’m Deshaun Watson,” he said. “My goal is to one day be able to have people talk about me the way they do about Michael Jordan. That’s the goal one day.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 7:54 PM with the headline "What does Watson have to do to prove he’s best QB in draft?."