Gruden says he would take Watson over Trubisky

Watson helped Clemson win the 2016 National title

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Thu Mar 23 20:25:21 GMT-04:00 2017

Former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was interviewed recently by Jon Gruden and participated in his yearly quarterback camp session.

During the interview, Gruden learned about Watson's interceptions and how the signal-caller remembered how all seventeen miscues transpired during his junior season.

“We went through every single one of the interceptions, and we also watched four or five other balls that could have been intercepted that were dropped,” Gruden said. “Every interception has a story behind it. Some of them are completely his fault. Some of them he has nothing to do with. He got let down by a breakdown in protection, a ball got batted, dropped or whatever. But he has incredible retention about exactly what happened.

Gruden knows that Clemson aggressively pushes the ball up the field and throws it a lot, so there will be a higher amount of risk award to this type of offense.

“He has a gunslinger mentality at times, but I’m not concerned at all. I went through this with Jameis Winston a couple of years ago. This is not a low-risk offense at Clemson. They push the ball down the field, and they rely on receivers to go up and play the ball at times, but a lot of it is very correctable, and I like the way he handled the criticism as well.”

Gruden likes how Watson has a large body of work in college and knows that the back-to-back Heisman finalist is clutch against top-flight defenses.

“I like Watson. I like a body of work,” Gruden said. “I think it stands for itself. Thirty-two wins, three loses. He has played 15 games in back-to-back seasons. That is unprecedented. Back-to-back championship games. He is a dual threat and unbelievable poise. When the game is on the line, ask Florida State what happens, ask Louisville, ask Alabama what this kid does in the fourth quarter with the game on the line when Clemson needs to score.

Gruden would pick Watson over former North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky.

“This guy [Watson] is special. I just think his body of work puts him at the top.”