Ease up on the overly-harsh criticisms of Deshaun

Nov 16, 2016, 7:54 PM

We're all well aware that he's turned the ball over at a much more frequent rate than he did the past 2 seasons. A large reason for that is due to him throwing the ball significantly more times per game than he did last year. A Basic understanding probability and statistics can confirm that more pass attempts = more INTs.

All in all, Deshaun has proven that he is a once in a lifetime talent, even despite his turnovers this year. The benefits that he provides to this team have always drastically outweighed his negatives. The Louisville game was a perfect example of that. This past weekend, Deshaun's mistakes caught up to him, and he wasn't able to overcome them, despite putting up record breaking numbers on offense. It would be irrational to expect him not to slip up at some point, and it finally happened against Pitt.

Take a look at Brett Favre for example. Favre's entire career was centered around his benefit outweighing his hinderance. Favre constantly turned the ball over in each game he played , often times in critical situations. But for every step he took backward, he'd respond and take 5 steps forward. Favre lead the league in interceptions for a number of seasons, but all that is lost amongst his numerous acheivements and the incredible things he was able to do on the field. Now, his legacy is forever enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame. There's an almost eerie similarity between Deshaun Watson and Brett Favre, similarities that go far beyond the fact that they both wore the number 4.

My point here is basically this: don't ruin the few games we have left with Deshaun by nitpicking his errors. Because when you look back on Deshaun's career years from now, just like with Brett Favre, all of those errors will be forgotten amongst the vast number of incredible things he did on the field, along with all of the benefits he provided to this program. We have a college football icon on our team, a guy who's name will still be brought up 50 years from now. So don't complain every time he messes up, because much like Favre, Deshaun will leave behind a legacy that puts him in the same tier as many football legends. Enjoy him while we have him folks, because a talent like Watson only comes around once in a generation.