Injury prone.

Until he completes a season without a physical setback quarterback Deshaun Watson may be burdened by a reputation at once indicting, insolent and – in all likelihood – inaccurate.

After a high school career without a significant injury, Watson’s sustained three in eight months as a freshman at Clemson, two that limited him to appearances in eight games, three full highlight reels and clips of five others.

His season ended with a win over South Carolina, a testament to his prodigious skill, on a torn knee ligament repaired in surgery 12 days later.

As expected, the first questions earlier this month when practice began were about Watson’s knee and how Clemson intended to protect him against similar recurrences to the collarbone, hand and knee injuries.

His visibility and importance to Clemson’s potential success mark Watson as an obvious target, possibly more than any quarterback since Steve Fuller whose retired No. 4 was assigned to him after 37 years in mothballs.

“He’s got that ‘it’ factor,” said Tony Elliott, in his first season as Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator. “You see him doing things you would expect a junior or senior to do, and he’s only started a couple of games.”

With essentially five full games of experience, he was voted preseason player of the year by ACC media and nominated to the watch lists for the Manning, Davey O’Brien, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards. ESPN.com and SI.com listed him sixth for the Heisman Trophy.

His coaches and teammates said Watson’s maturity and bearing on the field are sophisticated and refined, far advanced for a kid that turns 20 on Sept. 14.

Even with a torn ACL, Deshaun Watson was still able to make South Carolina players miss as he threw for 269 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in Clemson’ 35-17 victory last November.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s similar to Peyton Manning on game day,” said left guard Eric Mac Lain, marveling at Watson’s knack for identifying the right protection at the line much like Manning does for the Denver Broncos.

“The guy has taken it upon himself to own the protections on the offensive line, to where if he sees something, he can call a different one to put us in a better situation.

“You don’t see that from a sophomore, 19-year-old kids able to read the defense that way.”

Watson opens the season this coming Saturday behind a line in transition and with a run game in need of a jumpstart. Center Ryan Norton has started 24 games, but the other four projected starters, including the left tackle who enrolled in January, total five.

And last season Clemson was 91st in rushing, averaging 146.5 yards per game, 3.5 per carry, which frequently led to all too predictable situations on second and third down.

Cumulatively they lend credence to the questions about preserving him. As the starter his freshman year in high school, Watson was encouraged to remain in the pocket and rely on his protection. “We were afraid to run him because we were afraid he’d get broken in half,” said Gainesville coach Bruce Miller, remembering a pencil thin kid with prodigious talent.

The next season Miller took off the blinders, and Watson rushed for nearly 1,000 yards. “It was off to the races.”

For Clemson to succeed this season the blinders must be off.

“What makes Deshaun special is (that) he plays on the edge,” Elliott said. “If you take that away from him and start to make him think he’s injury prone then you’re going to take what makes him special away from him.”

After Watson the next most critical player on the Clemson roster may be Mitch Hyatt. A freshman offensive lineman from Suwanee, Ga., Hyatt enrolled in January and participated in spring practice hoping to compete for playing time immediately.

When Isaiah Battle left for the NFL several weeks before the start of August practice, Hyatt was named the presumptive starter at left tackle, Watson’s principle on-field bodyguard.

“That was a tough situation,” Elliott said. “He came here with hopes and expectations of being the starter but he didn’t expect it to happen that quickly.

“Now you get thrown in the fire and you’re blocking Shaq Lawson,” Elliott continued. “He’s never backed down, and now you’re starting to see him getting confident going out there and blocking Shaq.”

Lawson, preseason all-conference and a nominee for the Bednarik Award as the best defensive player in college football, promised Hyatt on the first day of practice he would make him better. “I want him to be one of the best linemen in the nation this year as a freshman.”

Of late, Hyatt has acquitted himself about half the time. “He’s picked up on some of my moves,” Lawson said.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” said Mac Lain. “As he has progressed through camp you can see the confidence.”

What makes Deshaun Watson so special is his ability to play with no fear and on the edge.

Watson said he hasn’t any qualms with Hyatt at tackle. “He’s going to be fine.”

First down is critical. There were far too many second-and-long situations last season. Elliott and co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott have 10 offensive linemen and five running backs at their call.

Mixing the run and short passing game as they did in the bowl win over Oklahoma should minimize any hint of tendency, Elliott said, “but when you’ve got a guy like Deshaun, he’s going to create plays with his legs, too.”

Watson’s coaches and teammates marvel at the depth of knowledge and his instincts. Quite simply, said Elliott, “he’s smart.”

Through high school Watson served as a ball boy at Atlanta Falcons home games, soaking in the atmosphere and listening. By his junior year of high school he was emulating Manning and Matt Ryan, calling most of the plays for Gainesville High at the line of scrimmage. His coach said he didn’t always know what Watson was about to do but was confident in his ability to make it work.

In all likelihood Watson won’t have that much freedom at Clemson even though he “pretty much” knows the entire playbook, including “why we run a play. It’s having every little detail, from my position to the line, knowing why we do things.”

Day-to-day Elliott defers to quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter in dealing with Watson.

“You don’t want to have too many voices in his head.” On game days, Elliott will call the plays from the box, while Jeff Scott will run the offense on the field, and head coach Dabo Swinney won’t be far from the process.

Since he apparently knows how, Watson said he spent a good deal of time after surgery watching video and learning from a coach’s perspective, picking minds and listening.

“To play at the highest level and win championships, you have to be a coach on the field,” Watson said. “The quarterback has to be the leader and think like the head coach.”

Yet even though he understands – from a coach’s perspective – why it might not be prudent to hurdle the defense as he did to score a touchdown in the N.C. State game, it probably won’t stop him if the occasion presents itself again.

Maybe it’s simply because protecting Deshaun Watson means letting him be Deshaun Watson.

“We’ll have that momentary holding the breath,” Elliott said.

“But you can’t take that away. That’s what makes him special.”