Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has scrambled for his life during his 23-game career. According to Pro Football Focus, Watson has been pressured on nearly half of his drop backs. Over the past five seasons, Watson has appeared as the most pressured and seventh-most pressured quarterback.
In 2018, Watson was also the best while under that pressure.
Despite being the most pressured QB last year (44.7% of his dropbacks), Deshaun Watson still had the highest passer rating on pressured attempts last season at 88.2. pic.twitter.com/W2zeTNnHiw
— PFF (@PFF) May 1, 2019
Watson led the NFL in sacks in 2018 with 62. It is fair to surmise that even if he had finished out his rookie season in 2017, where he took 19 sacks in seven games, that he probably would have ranked in the top-five in sacks that year as well.
While the Texans selected Alabama State tackle Tytus Howard in the first round, they had done little before that to shore up their most glaring weakness. A one-year contract for perpetually injured veteran offensive tackle Matt Kalil was the only free agency signing along the offensive line for the Texans. Also, in the last several years, tackle has been a seemingly low priority in the draft, with the only tackle selection in the draft during the O'Brien era being 2017 fourth round pick Julien Davenport.
We will see if Howard and Max Scharping, the second round pick out of Northern Illinois, meet the expectations the Texans have for them, but at least the franchise is investing equity to rebuild what was once a pretty good offensive line.
Houston definitely needs to protect Watson more if they want to contend for another AFC South title and a potential playoff run.
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