April 27, 2017. There was one quarterback off the board, Mitchell Trubisky. The Chicago Bears selected the North Carolina product with the No. 2 pick. Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson remained.
In reality, the Kansas City Chiefs traded up to pick No. 10 to draft Mahomes from Texas Tech. The Houston Texans traded up to pick No. 12 to draft Watson.
What if, instead of trading up for Mahomes, the Chiefs traded up for Watson? After all, the Chiefs did have an interest in the now-Texans quarterback.
“We had Deshaun up here, so we had an opportunity to meet with him and he did a great job for us,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the Houston media on a conference call Wednesday. “I really have got a ton of respect for him. I’m happy for him that things have worked out so well.”
Say Watson went to the Chiefs at No. 10 overall — after they traded up with the Buffalo Bills. What would be different?
For firsts, Watson’s magical rookie season that was cut short by an ACL tear wouldn’t have happened. The Chiefs at the time had Alex Smith, who had the best year of his career in 2017. There was no need to play Watson, just as there was no need to play Mahomes, as they didn’t do in reality.
Instead, the Chiefs would have developed Watson a bit more. There is no way of telling if his ACL tear would have happened or not, but, since he’s not playing in fantasy land, let’s say he wouldn’t have torn his ACL in practice.
Second season. In reality, Mahomes won MVP. The Chiefs traded Smith after his impressive year to give the second-year quarterback a shot. They would do the same with Watson.
Could Watson have also won MVP in the Chiefs’ offense led by the mastermind that is Reid? Yes. In 2018, with the Texans, he posted the NFL’s sixth-highest passer rating (103.1). He did so despite playing with an awful offensive line, a battered wide receiver corps and an off-and-on run-game.
That wouldn’t be the case in 2018 with the Chiefs. Instead, Watson would be playing with an offense built for many to succeed with an abundance of weapons, an innovative play-caller and an offensive line that would allow him time to throw.
Watson, with the Chiefs, would win MVP in 2018, just as Mahomes did.
What about the Super Bowl? Let’s say the Chiefs Watson beats the Colts in the divisional round to meet the New England Patriots in the AFC championship. He would not win it.
Instead, Brady moves on. However, that’s not due to Watson. The Chiefs’ defense struggled to defend the Patriots and ultimately lost on the same possession in overtime after Mahomes and Co. stormed back. History would repeat in an alternate universe.
Year three. Watson would help the Chiefs cruise into second place in the AFC seeding. Again, he would play in an explosive offense with speed, but he would also have a much-improved defense supporting him.
Then, he’ll meet Mahomes in the AFC divisional round, with the Texas Tech quarterback playing for his hometown state, quarterbacking the Texans. Would Watson win?
Perhaps not. Nobody knows. That world doesn’t exist.
However, the world that does is Watson and the Texans go against Mahomes and the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, 2:05 p.m. CT, and Houston fans are hopeful a trip to the AFC Championship Game is a reality and not a fantasy any longer.