5 Players the 49ers Won’t Touch in the 2017 NFL Draft

No. 2: Quarterback Deshaun Watson, Clemson

Collegiate Statistics

Finally, onto a player with zero off-field concerns.

I know one of my readers is going to hate me for saying this, but the 49ers aren’t going to draft Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, even if he falls into their lap in Round 2.

This scouting report, courtesy of CBS Sports’ Rob Rang, gives us a glimpse why San Francisco won’t target Watson:

"Clemson’s offense is a relatively simple one, frequently asking the quarterback to make simple underneath throws off of pre-determined reads. Often the ball is out of Watson’s hands so quickly on these throws that he fails to set his feet properly, tossing the ball flat-footed or while drifting back, negatively impacting his accuracy on these “simple” throws."

Sounds a lot like what many said of former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan recently touched on why he wanted to move on from San Francisco’s former starter, the words presented courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

"If you bring in a quarterback who is the best when he’s a dual-threat and can do all those type of things, that affects an entire offense. That doesn’t just affect one guy. That’s a huge commitment to your entire team. So, when you bring in someone like that when you’re going to have to tinker the offense to fit one player, you’ve got to know you’re tinkering every single person on that offense too."

Sure, Watson has big-school pedigree and the winning mentality carrying over from Clemson’s NCAA Championship victory over Alabama.

But Shanahan isn’t going to want a quarterback who looks a bit more like Kaepernick 2.0 under center.