Deshaun Watson has a brand, and Alabama head coach Nick Saban respects it.

Saban should. Clemson’s quarterback almost single-handedly beat Saban and Alabama in the College Football Playoff Championship Game last January. Watson had a championship game record 405 passing yards and 478 total yards to go along with four touchdown passes against the Crimson Tide.

Saban said Watson is the most dominate football player they have faced since Cam Newton in 2010, when Newton won the Heisman Trophy and led the those Tigers to a national championship. Saban says Watson’s accuracy is what makes him so special.

“He could get the ball into spaces about like this,” Saban said to ESPN, while holding his hands about a foot apart.

Saban later added Watson has very few holes in his game.

“It’s cool to have that kind of compliment from a guy that has been in the game and coached at both levels for a long time,” Watson said. “I thank Nick Saban for the compliment. He is a great guy and a respectful guy.

“We respect each other. He recruited me hard. It’s pretty cool to hear that, but at the same time I have to go earn it. This year is a new year and I have to see what happens.”

Saban has been perhaps Watson’s biggest ambassador outside of Clemson, which has only helped the quarterback’s brand. Last year, Watson not only became the first player to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 more in FBS history, but he also became the first quarterback in FBS history to throw 35 touchdown passes and take 35 or more credit hours in the classroom.

This summer, Watson took 17 more hours and now is just five hours short from graduating. He will graduate from Clemson in three years in December. Last week, Watson received the Jerry Richardson Community MVP Award at the Seventh Annual South Carolina Coaches for Charity event in Greenville.

All of this is just a part of the brand, Deshaun Watson’s Brand. He wants to be known as a good guy both on and off the field, who respects the game, understands the game of football has been here longer than he has and it can be taken away in any second.

“And then just to be a great person off the field and in the community, a student athlete, servant leader, who does his stuff the right way all the time,” he said. “Of course, I’m going to make mistakes and have flaws, but at the same time, I just try to do it in the right way.”

—Photo Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports