Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson, where he led the team to a national championship in 2016. Watson was selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
After having a productive rookie season cut short by injury, Watson guided the Texans to consecutive division titles in 2018 and 2019 and led the league in passing yards in 2020. He also received Pro Bowl honors in each of his three seasons as Houston's primary starter. He is fourth in career completion percentage (minimum 1,500 attempts) and is third in all-time career passer rating.
In 2022, Watson signed a new, fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal with the Browns, making it the largest contract and most guaranteed money in NFL history.
NFL records
Most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback: 5 (tied with Ray Buivid, Matthew Stafford, Jameis Winston and Daniel Jones)
Most passing touchdowns in a calendar month by a rookie quarterback: 16
Most passing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback in one half: 4 (tied with Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston) (Week 5, 2017)
First player in NFL history to pass for 400+ yards, throw 4+ TD passes, and rush for 50+ yards in a single game. (Week 8, 2017)
First player in NFL history with multiple 5 passing touchdown games within his first 2 seasons: 2
First player in NFL history to have 4,000+ passing yards, 25+ passing touchdowns, 500+ rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns in a single season
Fastest player in NFL history to have 6,500+ passing yards and 500+ rushing yards (26 games)
Fastest player in NFL history to have 50 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns (27 games)
First quarterback with back-to-back games with at least 375 passing yards and 35 rushing yards
Most passing touchdowns by a rookie in a 7-game span in NFL history: 19
Most passing touchdowns by a rookie in a 5-game span in NFL history: 18
Longest streak of games with 3 or more passing touchdowns by a rookie in NFL history: 4
Most games with at least 375 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in NFL history: 3 (tied with Steve Young)
Most passing touchdowns for a quarterback through his first six career games: 15
First rookie with two games of 300+ passing yards and 40+ rushing yards in a season
First rookie to produce 5+ touchdowns in consecutive games
Most completions with a perfect passer rating: 28
Most attempts with a perfect passer rating: 33 (tied with Jared Goff)