Deshaun Watson had an incredible 2020 season. He led the league with 4,823 passing yards and accounted for 36 touchdowns (33 pass, three rush) to just seven interceptions.
Unfortunately for him, the Houston Texans finished 4-12 and will miss the playoffs for the second time in four seasons. Even worse, former head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien traded their 2021 first- and second-round draft picks to Miami. The Dolphins will pick third in the NFL Draft.
As for the Texans, well, they’re in trouble.
“It’s got to be frustrating [for Watson],” former NFL quarterback Brandon Weeden said on The DA Show. “He’s clearly not the problem. They got a bunch of problems down there. Unfortunately, with what Bill O’Brien did by trading away all these guys and trading for guys and losing all these draft picks, it’s going to be tough to do it through the draft. So whoever comes in there as the GM, man, they got a tough job ahead of them because they’re going to have to get creative to build that roster around Deshaun. It’s clear that he is a franchise guy that can take you to special places, but just like anybody else in the league, you can’t do it by yourself. You got to have guys around you and you got to have a defense that can stop somebody.”
Week 17 was a perfect example of that, as the Tennessee Titans scored 10 points in the final two minutes to beat the Texans on a last-second field goal. Ryan Tannehill’s 5-yard touchdown run gave the Titans a 38-35 lead with 1:42 to go.
“I tweeted, ‘Did Tennessee give Deshaun too much time?’” Weeden said. “And sure enough, he goes down there and makes some unbelievable plays and they kick a field goal. But what do they do? They turn around and give up a bomb to A.J. Brown.”
Indeed, the Texans tied the game at 38 with 18 seconds to go, but Tannehill found Brown for a 52-yard completion on the first play of their final drive. Sam Sloman kicked a 37-yard field goal to win the game as time expired.
“They’re just not complete,” Weeden said of the Texans. “They don’t have a complete team. It’s going to be tough on them. It’s going to be tough to get that roster right in the next few years just with the lack of draft picks. They’re going to have to get creative.”
Weeden, a first-round pick in 2012, backed up Watson in Houston. He said they are “extremely close.”
“I’m sad for him,” Weeden said. “I’m kind of pulling for him because we’re such close friends and I respect the guy. But man, it’s going to be interesting. We’ll see how that thing pans out. But whoever that GM is, is going to have their hands full.”
Weeden called Watson “one of my all-time favorite teammates.”
“I love the guy,” he said. “You can tell he was raised right. Just a great human being. Unbelievable talent, we all know that. The guy’s instincts and what he does on the football field is incredible, but he’s an even better person. He truly is. He’s as good as they come.”