Peyton Manning's greatness is known throughout all the land and he's known for being a coach on the field as well as a superb tactician. Now there's another fresh-faced quarterback who's earning a similar reputation in Clemson's Deshaun Watson. Redshirt senior offensive tackle Eric Mac Lain for Clemson is already calling Watson the next Manning because of the way he leads the team and calls audibles.
"The kid has made unbelievable reads and calls," Mac Lain said on Monday. "I think the biggest surprise that we have seen is the calls he's had in protection. He's really taken it upon himself to learn the protections of the offensive line to where if he sees some sort of blitz or coverage that he doesn't like, he can call a different one to put us in a better situation. You don't see that from sophomore, 19-year old kids, being able to read a defense that way. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he's similar to Peyton Manning on game day."
Watson's confidence at the line of scrimmage and audible calling goes back to his days in Gainesville, Georgia where the coaches gave him lots of freedom to make calls. Watson also took advantage of his injury by getting together with coach Dabo Swinney to talk strategy.
"I've learned a lot, especially having time off with the injury and being in the film and having that coaches' perspective just from being out," Watson said. "It's been great talking to coach Swinney and seeing what he sees and trying to think like him. To be able to play at the highest level and win the highest championships you have to be a coach on the field and the quarterback has to be the leader and think just like the head coach."
It looks and sounds like Watson has an illustrious career ahead of him and he's not going to sit by and just let it come to him. He's going to take it by force and hopefully that will lead to more wins for Clemson as well.
