By Will Vandervort.

With Jameis Winston now heading for the NFL, Clemson will be the favorite to win the ACC next season. Why? Well, here is why.

Deshaun Watson.

If healthy, the freshman gives the Tigers the top quarterback returning in the conference. It also helps that Clemson returns its leading rusher plus three other players in Tyshon Dye, Zac Brooks and Adam Choice at running back. Those three spent all or most of the 2014 season injured, but all three are capable, along with Wayne Gallman, who rushed for a team-high 769 yards, to be a starter at any other school.

Watson will also have his two top receivers back from 2014 in Mike Williams and Artavis Scott. Williams led the Tigers in yards with 1,030, while Scott led the team in catches with 76. Scott had 965 yards and scored a team best eight touchdowns, while Williams caught 57 passes and six touchdowns. Both receivers had 100-yard games in the Russell Athletic Bowl win over Oklahoma and both scored touchdowns.

Yes, the offensive line still needs work, but you have to feel that group will be better with center Ryan Norton and left tackle Isaiah Battle a year older and wiser. Jay Guillermo (reserve center), Eric Mac Lain (reserve guard), Tyrone Crowder (reserve guard) and Joe Gore (right tackle) should also be better in 2015.

There is also the potential of early enrollees like Mitch Hyatt and Jay Fruhmorgen at tackle and 2015 commitments in wide receivers Deon Cain and Ray Ray McCloud that can make the offense even better. Let’s not forget about 2014 guys Milan Richard and Cannon Smith at tight end. Both were redshirted last season and both are expected to provide great competition at the tight end position this spring.

But Watson is the key to it all. He can mask any inadequacies on the offensive line thanks to his ability to feel pressure and escape. He also adds another dimension in the zone-read running game that the Tigers missed when he was not in the game.

But Watson can also throw the football with extreme accuracy.

How good is Watson? With a torn ACL he threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season finale against South Carolina on 14 of 19 passing. He also scrambled and juked several Gamecock defenders on a second-quarter run that set up his own rushing touchdown. He scored two touchdowns overall that afternoon.

Against North Carolina—his first start—he threw for 435 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in guiding the Tigers to a blowout win over the Tar Heels. He also threw for 267 yards and totaled four touchdowns and 329 total yards in a 41-0 victory over NC State the following week.

His most impressive game, however, came on the road against Florida State. After subbing in for senior Cole Stoudt, Watson completed 19 of 28 passes for 269 yards, while rushing for 30 more yards and scoring a touchdown as he nearly guided the Tigers to an upset victory over the top-ranked Seminoles. Though he was a true freshman he wasn’t even fazed by the moment or the magnitude of the game in a hostile environment.

Watson finished the year completing 67.9 percent of his passes for 1,466 yards and 14 touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 188.6 would have been second only to Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota had he thrown enough passes to qualify. His touchdown-to-interception ratio—he threw just two interceptions—would have led the ACC and who knows what other school records he might have broken.

Yes, Clemson will have some question marks on defense that will take some time to truly get answered in 2015, but with an offense loaded with skill players and perhaps the nation’s best quarterback returning, the offense can more than carry the load while the defense feels itself out.

Clemson will be the team to beat in the ACC next year and maybe in the years to come as well.