New York Jets: Not drafting Deshaun Watson wasn’t a mistake

The New York Jets didn’t draft a quarterback and missed out on a good one in the 2017 NFL Draft. With that said, not drafting Deshaun Watson wasn’t a mistake.

Back in April, the Houston Texans made a bold moving when they moved up to get Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson. Prior to that move, 11 teams passed on him, including the New York Jets. Now there’s a very lazy opinion going around in social and traditional media.

The “what if” game is now being played. People are beginning to question teams like the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Jets for not taking the two-time Heisman Award Finalist and 2016 National Championship winning quarterback. Don’t fall into that trap.

Jets fans shouldn’t wonder how much better the team would be with Watson at quarterback. When the Texans drafted him, he went into a ready-made situation, similar to what to Dak Prescott did with the Cowboys. The Texans have two things the Jets don’t have: a solid running game and a true No. 1 go-to target.

This isn’t a matter of whether you believed in Watson on draft day or not. He may be proving some of the doubters wrong about his transition to the NFL. With that said, it helps that he has a solid foundation with which to work. There’s no discounting that.

What the NFL has shown us in recent years is that putting the pieces in place before drafting the quarterback is important. That strategy isn’t only working in Houston and Dallas, but Oakland as well.

Next: NFL QB Power Rankings 2017: Week 9

Many franchises are devoid of good quarterback play, and Houston was one of them before the 2017 NFL Draft. That doesn’t mean you can take Watson out of Houston and put him on the Jets and get similar results. Regardless of his talent, it’s lazy to play that game.