Ultimate college winner Deshaun Watson is set up to win immediately at Houston

“He wins!” is not a great NFL scouting report. Just like it was silly to knock Patrick Mahomes for a bad win-loss record at Texas Tech, it’d be silly to guarantee professional success for Deshaun Watson because he won so many games at Clemson. Watson won the national title last season and went 32-3 as a starter, which is awesome, but has tons to do with Watson’s teammates, coaches, and good fortune.

But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to call Watson a winner, as trite as that can be. Everyone who knows Watson praises him to the extreme for his poise and calm. His coach likens him to Michael Jordan.

There’s good news: Watson played for a good team in college, and he’s going to a good team in the NFL. This college winner is in great shape to also be a professional winner, because of his own positive traits and those of his new team.

Watson is a Houston Texan. While it’s rough that he was the third QB taken in Thursday’s NFL draft first round, he landed in a fine place.

Did you know Houston’s been above .500 in five of the last six years and made the playoffs four times in that stretch? (Do not ask me what’s happened in those playoff appearances.) The Texans have been decent in a bland AFC South.

That’s how it tends to be when you’ve got J.J. Watt on your line and Brock Osweiler, T.J. Yates, Matt Schaub, or whoever at quarterback. Last year’s team went 9-7 because it had a top-five defense that allowed 5.1 yards per play. The offense was 28th in scoring and 31st in yards per play (4.7).

The takeaway: Houston’s offense blows chunks, but the defense is so good with Watt and Jadeveon Clowney on the edges that this team was a contender anyway.

Watson might not start immediately. But he’s going to start eventually, because NFL teams don’t trade up to pick quarterbacks at No. 12 and not start them.

If Houston’s defense is as good as it’s been, Watson doesn’t have to be much more than a warm body to keep his team competitive in a mediocre division. Watson’s demonstrated he’s an efficient player who can run the ball, nickel-and-diming his way upfield. Our own Bill Connelly noted:

He completed a high percentage, but few went anywhere; he averaged 12.1 yards per completion in 2015 and 11.8 in 2016.

His low sack rates fit the profile of a quick-passing efficiency guy, but he threw more picks than other prospects.

His ability to scramble for 5 yards on third-and-5 was second to none, but he lacked the explosiveness of a true dual-threat guy.

Here’s Battle Red Blog, our Texans site:

The Texans have built a team that needs a quarterback to simply not lose the game for them. You know, the exact opposite of what Brian Hoyer and Brock Osweiler did in the playoffs the last two years. Watson is certainly not going to lose anything for anyone. The guy is a winner with an indomitable spirit and more willpower than Hoyer or Osweiler ever possessed.

Watson is smart enough to run Bill O’Brien’s offense. O’Brien has managed to get the most out of a cast of 1,000 rejects (minus Brock Osweiler), and when handed the most successful NCAA quarterback in recent memory, O’Brien should be able to have his best offensive year yet.

O’Brien, Houston’s head coach, has been known for working well with quarterbacks at times. He used to be Tom Brady’s offensive coordinator in New England and got a good freshman year out of Christian Hackenberg at Penn State.

Houston’s also got a couple of weapons, most notably Watson’s fellow Clemson alum, receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Watson isn’t without his flaws. Whether you’re a college football person who thinks he’s a wunderkind or a pro evaluator who prefers Mitchell Trubisky, his career could go many different ways. I like this point at Clemson blog Shakin The Southland:

For all those positive traits, there are some valid concerns. Watson is slightly smaller than the normal NFL quarterback, and he’ll have to be smart about how he runs the ball. Watson’s velocity is also a question, he had the lowest of any quarterback at the NFL combine, and NFL scouts have real concerns about his ability to diagnose plays correctly because of the number of interceptions he threw in college.

Watson is definitely not a finished product. He’s going to have to do some learning at the NFL level to become a star. But he has the winning mentality and with the right coaching and right supporting cast he will have a great opportunity to succeed in the NFL.

There are no guarantees.

But if he’s even an average NFL quarterback, he’ll be a large step up from the dumpster fire the Texans have fielded at the position lately. If he’s more than that, Houston could level up to the Patriots-Steelers-Broncos tier that’s dominated the AFC.