Houston Texans: Five takeaways from first preseason game

Deshaun Watson will be coached differently

Deshaun Watson had multiple play action bootlegs called for him. I get the feeling there are no such plays drawn up for Tom Savage.

This shows that O’Brien has different playbooks to play to each quarterback’s strengths. It makes total sense considering the advanced skill set Watson has with his ability to scramble. And that was definitely on display last night.

While O’Brien went to quick passes to take thinking out of it for Savage, very first play call for Watson was a rollout, perhaps trying to get Watson comfortable by having him move around rather than drop back and have time to think and question his decisions.

And boy did Watson show his ability to move around last night. That mobility of course could lead to him supplanting Savage, especially if Savage struggles to make decisions in the pocket. Savage doesn’t have the ability to escape when he gets in trouble like Watson does.

That could be a big factor when it comes to deciding on who should open the season as the starter. Watson also seemed to have a better idea of when to leave the pocket, but he also got way more time on the field than Savage did.

The jury has to still be out until we see a more balanced time on the field against similar competition. But if I had to pick who performed better, let’s just say based on first three drives to give that equal time, I’d say Watson even though Savage had the only drive that resulted in a touchdown in those first three drives.