Where Did ESPN Rank Watson Among CFB's Best of 21st Century?

One Clemson legend was recently named among the top college football players of the 2000s.

ESPN unveiled its ranking of the top 25 college football player of the 21st century , and Deshaun Watson made the list.

The former Tiger star quarterback appeared at No. 16.

Here’s what ESPN’s Bill Connelly had to say about Watson as one of the best players of the 21st century:

Under Dabo Swinney, Clemson was an intriguing but frustrating program when Watson showed up on campus. It was a national powerhouse, Alabama’s equal, when Watson left. He tantalized as a freshman before tearing his ACL, but in his final two seasons the Tigers went 28-2, losing a down-to-the-wire classic against Bama in the 2015 national title game, then winning one in 2016. He threw for 8,697 yards and 76 touchdowns in those two seasons and, despite the knee issues, rushed for 1,734 yards and 21 scores in that span as well. He was the first guy to combine 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a season, and the final pass of his career was a title-winning touchdown. Hard to top that.

Clemson has never had a quarterback under pressure that performed better than Watson. Six times in the Tigers’ 2016 run to the national championships, Watson led the Tigers to come-from-behind victories. The biggest of those, of course, came in the 2017 CFP National Championship Game against Alabama. With the game on the line, he engineered a game-winning drive with under two minutes to play, capped with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow. Twice he rallied the Tigers from two scores down to win the game, 35-31.

Watson also led the Tigers to two ACC Championships and to the 2016 CFP National Championship Game. As a starter, he posted a 32-3 record and finished his Clemson career as the program’s second all-time passing leader (10,163 Yards) and was second in touchdowns thrown (90). His 116 total touchdowns also rank second all-time, while his 26 rushing touchdowns are tied with Boyd for the most in school history for a quarterback.

Watson is second all-time amongst quarterbacks in rushing yards (1,931). His 1,105 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2015 are both Clemson single-season records for a quarterback. Watson also set single-season records in passing yards (4,593), completions (388), attempts (579), touchdown passes (41) and total touchdowns (50). Watson was drafted No. 12 overall by the Houston Texans in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Another legendary Clemson quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, was named as one of the “first 10 out” of ESPN’s ranking of college football’s best players of the 21st century.

Former Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is the No. 1 player overall on the list.

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available.  Get yours while supplies last!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!