This Texans offseason is vastly different from last year for Deshaun Watson. Last year, he was preparing for the NFL Draft and had no idea which team would select him. Now in his second season, Watson is the undisputed Texans starting quarterback and taking a leadership role on offense.
"I've been in the system for a year and understanding what Coach O'Brien is really wanting from this position, playing quarterback and how much he wants me to master the offense and just the leadership role," Watson said last week. "I'm taking those steps and that's what I'm leading first, the leadership role and the work ethic and then also just mastering the basic info."
Last year, as a rookie, Watson was just learning the system. Watson is working on the details of his game now, from personnel groupings to the cadences to taking a bigger role outside of his quarterbacking responsibilities. Being named starter has not changed how he will approach this offseason, but it does give Watson a bigger sense of responsibility to his teammates.
"As far as myself, I don't think my approach is changing because regardless of if I was the backup or the starter, I just made sure I treated myself and the things I did like the starter," Watson said. "Whenever I had the opportunity, I was going to come in and take advantage of it and perform like a starter. So as far as that, nothing changed but there are little things that you have to make sure you're doing and try to stay ahead of the game and those are extra meetings with the players. Like I said before, I'm a year in the system so I kind of know what's going on and I can bring other guys with me along and get better as a whole."
Texans players are currently in Phase 1 of the offseason workout program.
Check out some of the best photos of QB Deshaun Watson during his rookie season.
