Deshaun Watson

Former quarterback at Clemson. 2016: 4,593 passing yards, 41 TD, 17 INT.

QB · Clemson · #4

6′3″ · Gainesville, GA

POTY finalist (model)Houston — drafted 2017, Rd 1, Pick 12, #12 overall

Recruiting

4★

DUAL recruit

No. 42 nationally · Signed with Clemson

Statement game435 yds · 6 TDvs North Carolina (FBS) · W 50-35

Top 0.1% passing TDs game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former quarterback at Clemson. 2016: 4,593 passing yards, 41 TD, 17 INT.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Clemson in 2014.
Drafted round 1 by the Houston in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Clemson, 10,163 passing yards — drafted at #12 overall by Houston.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20148 games

Signed with Clemson4-star out of Gainesville

2017

Drafted by Houstonround 1, pick 12

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#42 national

CFB

College

Clemson

2014–2016

NFL

NFL Draft

R1 · #12

Houston · 2017

Coaching lineage · 2014–2016

1 coach

2014–2016

Dabo Swinney

Clemson

Played his entire career under Dabo Swinney.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

HoustonEntering 10th NFL season

#12Rd 1 · Pick 12

HoustonEntering 10th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2016 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Dabo Swinney — 38-5 over that span.

2014Clemson10-3HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2015Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2016Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score percentiles

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: pass yards (99th percentile). Strength: pass tds (98th percentile). Concern: interceptions (1st percentile).

Box-score rates (8)

Pass yards#3 / 167 · 99th pct

4593

Pass TDs#3 / 167 · 98th pct

Completion %#11 / 167 · 94th pct

67.0%

Rush yards#14 / 167 · 92nd pct

629

Rush TDs#17 / 167 · 89th pct

Yards / att#45 / 167 · 72nd pct

7.9

Fumbles lost#69 / 163 · 45th pct

Interceptions#165 / 167 · 1st pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2016 season · 15 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home8g	310	3.1	8.7	1.5
Road7g	301	2.3	7.9	0.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-79g	292	2.7	8.0	1.1
Weeks 8+6g	327	2.8	8.8	1.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dabo Swinney

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2016

POTY finalist (model)

Our Heisman model has him in the top five; no finalist honor is on the books yet.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2016	Clemson	387	578	67.0%	4,593	7.9	41	17	151.2	--	--	--
2015	Clemson	333	491	67.8%	4,104	8.4	35	13	156.3	--	--	--
2014	Clemson	93	137	67.9%	1,466	10.7	14	2	188.6	--	--	--
Career		813	1,206	67.4%	10,163	8.4	90	32	157.5	--	--	--

Season	Team
2016	Clemson	165	629	3.8	9	--
2015	Clemson	207	1,105	5.3	12	--
2014	Clemson	63	200	3.2	5	--
Career		435	1,934	4.4	26	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 20 · 2016

W 35–31

at Alabama

420 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 63.3 · 43 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD

Edged out Alabama on the road in a shootout.

With A. Teasdall — 38 AVG · 47 LONG · 8 NO · A. Scott — 3 rec · 6 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week