Bill O’Brien has extremely high praise for DeShaun Watson

All indications are that the Houston Texans have been very pleased with their decision to move up to select DeShaun Watson at No. 12 overall in the NFL Draft, and head coach Bill O’Brien has provided further evidence of that.

While speaking to reporters from training camp on Tuesday, O’Brien offered very high praise for Watson and the progress he has made.

O'Brien: "Deshaun is ahead of any rookie quarterback I've ever been around."

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) August 1, 2017

O’Brien is a hard-nosed coach who is typically tough on quarterbacks, so that means a lot coming from him. Heck, this is a guy who even got into a shouting match with Tom Brady on the sideline in the middle of a game.

A previous report claimed the Texans feel Watson has been better than they anticipated in his first offseason, so O’Brien’s remark goes along with that. The former Clemson star was taken behind quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes back in April despite leading the Tigers to a dramatic win over Alabama in the National Championship Game.

The Texans will probably still start Tom Savage in Week 1, but that is more about not rushing Watson along. If Savage struggles and Watson continues to impress the coaching staff, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t start at some point in 2017.