The Houston Texans may be the in the market for a new quarterback, and their replacement for Deshaun Watson may be in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, who predicted the starting quarterback situation for all 32 NFL teams, the Texans will draft Ohio State’s Justin Fields in Round 1 to replace Watson.
Having already accounted for a Deshaun Watson trade, we need to find his heir apparent. While I do not believe Fields will be available at No. 8 in the draft — a key part of any Watson-to-Carolina trade — Houston would at least have additional capital to move further up the board to select Fields, the Ohio State standout who could be the second quarterback off the board. Parting ways with Watson will be an exorbitantly tough pill to swallow, but Fields is the beacon of light toward the future that the Texans will need.
How does Houston end up with Fields when they don’t have a first or second-round pick this year? Enter the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers have a new general manager in Scott Fitterer and the No. 8 overall pick, which they can use as part of a trade package to acquire Watson.
The Texans would also want to deal Watson to an NFC team so they don’t have to endure his revenge game possibly every season — just once every four years, like an abominable, bitter election cycle.
If the Texans go with a rookie quarterback for 2021, they better hope they get the right one, or handle the situation to where he can develop and not get his confidence shaken. The Texans finished 4-12 a season ago and Watson played at a Pro Bowl level just to keep Houston competitive with no running game or defense to speak of. Fields may be good, but he would get beaten up physically and mentally in Houston as a rookie.
