Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson skipped the Senior Bowl this year, but he will be a full participant in the 2017 NFL Combine later this month. Watson told NFL Network he plans on throwing at the event.
High profile quarterbacks sometimes choose to avoid throwing at the Combine, instead saving that show for their personal or school Pro Day in March. The Pro Day provides more of a “home field advantage” for quarterbacks. The Combine provides a solid environment inside a dome, but quarterbacks are throwing to players they don’t work with on a regular basis. At a Pro Day, they can throw to receivers from their school, with whom they have some measure of chemistry.
There are questions about Watson’s accuracy, and so plenty of teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, will be focused on what Watson is able to do during the process. He will likely also throw during his Pro Day, but a strong Combine performance could go a long way toward securing a higher draft spot for him.