
Quarterback, Clemson, 2014–16
Deshaun Watson
- Number
- No. 4
- Height
- 6′3″
- Hometown
- Gainesville, GA
- Born
- Sep 14, 1995, in Gainesville, Georgia
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Deshaun Watson played quarterback at Clemson (2014–16). He was the quarterback of the 2016 national champions (14–1). He won the 2015 and 2016 Davey O’Brien Awards, the 2015 and 2016 Manning Awards and the 2016 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He finished second in the 2016 Heisman vote and was a consensus All‑American in 2015. The Houston Texans took Watson in the first round, No. 12 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
580passing yards, career highvs. Pittsburgh, 20166touchdown passes, career hightwice; last vs. South Carolina, 2016145rushing yards, career highvs. Oklahoma, 20153rushing touchdowns, career highat South Carolina, 2015Honors
- 2015, 2016Davey O’Brien Award
- 2015, 2016Manning Award
- 2015Archie Griffin Award
- 2015Consensus All‑American
- 2015ACC Offensive Player of the Year
- 2015ACC Player of the Year
- 2015National leader in total offense (5,209)
- 2015Third in the Heisman vote
- 2016Quarterback of the national champions (14–1)
- 2016Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
- 2016Chic Harley Award
- 2016Second in the Heisman vote
Team titles: ACC champions, 2015 and 2016; National champions, 2016
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Passing
Rushing
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. pass | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Clemson | 200 | 0.58 | 99th (n=147) | 0.24 | 115.7 | 33% | 0.69 | 0.32 |
| 2015 | Clemson | 695 | 0.42 | 92nd (n=151) | 0.24 | 291.7 | 56% | 0.58 | 0.34 |
| 2016 | Clemson | 735 | 0.32 | 70th (n=152) | 0.25 | 234.6 | 60% | 0.55 | 0.12 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2016 Clemson 15 games, 4,593 passing yards, 41 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | at | W 19–13 | 19 | 34 | 248 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
| Sep 10 | vs. | W 30–24 | 27 | 53 | 292 | 3 | 2 | 55 |
| Sep 17 | vs. | W 59–0 | 12 | 15 | 152 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Sep 22 | at | W 26–7 | 32 | 48 | 304 | 2 | 1 | 36 |
| Oct 1 | vs. | W 42–36 | 20 | 31 | 306 | 5 | 3 | 91 |
| Oct 7 | at | W 56–10 | 15 | 25 | 270 | 4 | 0 | 33 |
| Oct 15 | vs. | W 24–17 | 39 | 52 | 378 | 2 | 1 | 35 |
| Oct 29 | at | W 37–34 | 27 | 43 | 378 | 2 | 2 | 52 |
| Nov 5 | vs. | W 54–0 | 13 | 16 | 169 | 2 | 0 | 39 |
| Nov 12 | vs. | L 42–43 | 52 | 70 | 580 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Nov 19 | at | W 35–13 | 23 | 33 | 202 | 1 | 0 | 47 |
| Nov 26 | vs. | W 56–7 | 26 | 32 | 347 | 6 | 1 | 19 |
| Dec 3 | vs. | W 42–35 | 23 | 34 | 288 | 3 | 1 | 85 |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. | W 31–0 | 23 | 36 | 259 | 1 | 2 | 57 |
| Jan 9 ✦ | vs. | W 35–31 | 36 | 56 | 420 | 3 | 0 | 43 |
2015 Clemson 15 games, 4,104 passing yards, 35 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5 | vs. | W 49–10 | 18 | 22 | 194 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Sep 12 | vs. | W 41–10 | 19 | 26 | 248 | 3 | 1 | 17 |
| Sep 17 | at | W 20–17 | 21 | 30 | 199 | 2 | 2 | 54 |
| Oct 3 | vs. | W 24–22 | 10 | 21 | 84 | 2 | 1 | 93 |
| Oct 10 | vs. | W 43–24 | 21 | 30 | 265 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Oct 17 | vs. | W 34–17 | 27 | 41 | 420 | 3 | 2 | 32 |
| Oct 24 | at | W 58–0 | 15 | 19 | 143 | 1 | 0 | 98 |
| Oct 31 | at | W 56–41 | 23 | 30 | 383 | 5 | 0 | 54 |
| Nov 7 | vs. | W 23–13 | 28 | 42 | 297 | 1 | 0 | 107 |
| Nov 14 | at | W 37–27 | 35 | 48 | 368 | 2 | 1 | 105 |
| Nov 21 | vs. | W 33–13 | 24 | 35 | 343 | 3 | 2 | 44 |
| Nov 28 | at | W 37–32 | 20 | 27 | 279 | 1 | 0 | 114 |
| Dec 5 | vs. | W 45–37 | 26 | 42 | 289 | 3 | 1 | 131 |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. | W 37–17 | 16 | 31 | 187 | 1 | 1 | 145 |
| Jan 11 ✦ | vs. | L 40–45 | 30 | 47 | 405 | 4 | 1 | 73 |
2014 Clemson 8 games, 1,466 passing yards, 14 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | at | L 21–45 | 2 | 4 | 59 | 1 | 0 | −3 |
| Sep 6 | vs. | W 73–7 | 8 | 9 | 154 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| Sep 20 | at | L 17–23 | 19 | 28 | 266 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Sep 27 | vs. | W 50–35 | 27 | 36 | 435 | 6 | 1 | 28 |
| Oct 4 | vs. | W 41–0 | 17 | 29 | 267 | 2 | 0 | 62 |
| Oct 11 | vs. | W 23–17 | 2 | 6 | −5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Nov 15 | at | L 6–28 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| Nov 29 | vs. | W 35–17 | 14 | 19 | 269 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2017 |
|---|---|
| Height | 6′2½″ |
| Weight | 221 lb |
| Arm length | 33″ |
| Hand size | 9¾″ |
| Wingspan | 79⅞″W |
| 40-yard dash | 4.66 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.53 sW |
| Vertical jump | 32½″ |
| Broad jump | 9′11″ |
| 3-cone drill | 6.95 s |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.31 s |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
8 seasons, 78 games with a stat; latest team: Cleveland Browns.
Pro Bowls: 3 (2018–20)
| Season | Team | G | Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Houston Texans | 7 | 126 | 204 | 1,699 | 19 | 8 | 269 |
| 2018 | Houston Texans | 16 | 345 | 505 | 4,165 | 26 | 9 | 551 |
| 2019 | Houston Texans | 15 | 333 | 495 | 3,852 | 26 | 12 | 413 |
| 2020 | Houston Texans | 16 | 382 | 544 | 4,823 | 33 | 7 | 444 |
| 2022 | Cleveland Browns | 6 | 99 | 170 | 1,102 | 7 | 5 | 175 |
| 2023 | Cleveland Browns | 6 | 105 | 171 | 1,115 | 7 | 4 | 142 |
| 2024 | Cleveland Browns | 7 | 137 | 216 | 1,148 | 5 | 3 | 148 |
| 2026 (so far) | Cleveland Browns | 5 | 95 | 148 | 1,010 | 7 | 2 | 167 |
| NFL career | 78 | 1,622 | 2,453 | 18,914 | 130 | 50 | 2,309 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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