None of other ACC QBs move the needle like Clemson’s Watson

Deshaun Watson won’t appear at the ACC Kickoff before next year, which dismayed and disappointed reporters hoping for an audience with Clemson’s ultra-talented quarterback.

Clemson conceded the quarterback spotlight at this year’s media scrum, bringing offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain and defensive tackle D.J. Reeder, a pair of seniors at two critical positions and significant to the team’s developing leadership.

Both are glib and engaging, assets to the program and the school, but they’re not Watson, not the face of Clemson football. Not the player who beat South Carolina on one healthy knee. Not the player who off an injury shortened season has been mentioned as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate.

By the end of the season, he could be the face of the ACC.

And as more than one reporter lamented – he’s not here.

Traditionally, Clemson selects a senior from each side of the ball, so there shouldn’t have been much surprise, but the ACC struggles to capture the level of national attention common to the SEC or the Big Ten. Watson might have helped. On a Monday with the final round of the British Open, a light baseball schedule and the SEC coaches at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., the ACC had a window.

Admittedly the league would have preferred having Watson, but each school makes its choices without interference. So, the 28 players at Pinehurst Resort’s Carolina House consisted of assorted linemen, backs, receivers, a kicker, a punter and five quarterbacks.

The QBs were Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech; Brad Kaaya, Miami; Marquise Williams, North Carolina; Jacoby Brissett, N.C. State and Michael Brewer, Virginia Tech.

None of them move the needle, said one nonplussed reporter.

To be fair, quarterbacks should play a huge role as the ACC tries to grow its competitive footprint this season. Florida State and Clemson are clearly the favorites in July, but because they’re in the same division, the Nov. 7 game in Death Valley could determine the ACC champion. Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, N.C. State and Virginia Tech are viable threats. Louisville didn’t send a quarterback either.

Each quarterback in attendance has a worthy story.

Jacoby Brissett transferred to N.C. State from Florida and had a major impact on Dave Doeren’s young program in their first season together. Similar in style to Watson and rival Williams, Brissett said he’s distinctive in that, “nobody does Jacoby better than I do Jacoby.”

He and Marquise Williams of North Carolina bonded working the Manning Passing Academy. Entering his third season as North Carolina’s starter, Williams said he spent the offseason taking swim lessons with his English bulldog, Bella (who likes watching TV) and trying to develop relationships with teammates he hadn’t known well.

“It’s coming out of our comfort zone, getting to know other people,” he said. “Getting everybody to come together, being like a family.”

Lewis came to Virginia Tech last year after graduating from Texas Tech in 3½ years, and he has two years of eligibility because he redshirted as freshman. Late joining the team last summer, he had to learn the offense on the fly, so he’s eager “to actually go through an offseason rather than be forced into it in two months of preparation.”

Thomas plays a much different game than the others, contributing as a primary run threat in an option scheme, but he wants to be considered one of the best. Tech doesn’t apologize for being a bit of a maverick. “It was working last season what we were doing,” Thomas said, “so there was no reason to change it.”

And Kaaya, ACC rookie of the year with nearly 3,200 passing yards and 28 touchdowns as a freshman, said he’s aware of the depth of quarterback talent in the league.

“Quarterback play is essential to every single team,” he said. “As long as there’s good quarterback play in our league it’s going to make the conference pretty exciting, some good matchups.”

Kaaya met Watson a few years ago at one of those summer showcases in Oregon and counts him as a friend.

And he probably would have liked Watson to be here, too.