Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney was complimentary of true sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson - who some have labeled as the best returning quarterback in the nation - during his time in Bristol, Conn., on Monday as part of ESPN's Car Wash series.
"My confidence level comes from the young man’s ability, his aptitude, his work ethic, his commitment to being great. He’s above and beyond in all those areas - if the scale is 1 to 10, he’s a 12 in everything," Swinney said, according to Aaron Brenner of The Post and Courier. "It's a violent game, but the Good Lord keeps him healthy, and (if) he plays in all 12 games, he'll be a tough out for anybody. He's a special player."
Watson came to Clemson as the No. 16 overall prospect and top quarterback in the 2014 class, as ranked by ESPN. His freshman season was cut short when he tore his ACL, and Swinney was asked whether he would change the Tigers' playbook to protect Watson's health.
"We go play to win. He came to Clemson to do what we do," Swinney said. "Hopefully he can be a little smarter. One of the best parts of his game is, he's a creator. It's not necessarily a play that we call for him to run, but he becomes a scrambler.
"I think there are times he has to be smart and not necessarily take that hit - you don't have to prove anything to anybody. Then there's times it's third and 1, and we've got to have it.
"You can (get) hurt playing this game doing anything, so you can't worry about that stuff. You've got to cut it loose and let the cards fall where they may."
