I wouldn't say "selfish" .... but he thinks he has to be the hero.
Its a philosophical difference and one the great QB's understand.
If you ask Tom Brady , Brees , Peyton , Rodgers what his job is as a QB he's more likely than not going to tell you to get the ball to his playmakers in favorable situations so they can make plays.
If you ask Watson that same question , the answer is going to be more along the lines of "I have to make plays"
The regression I spoke of earlier was from his rookie season to the second in that he got the ball out in a blistering 1.93 as a rookie. That second year the number skyrocketed to 2.8.
Last year it was in that same ballpark .... 2.8. That makes life miserable for your OL and doesn't help the running game either.
You look at what Tyrod Taylor has done in his two games with the Texans - Same dude who called the plays for Watson last year is calling them for him & Taylor leads the league in some passing metrics. He's also getting the ball out in a spectacular 1.92 seconds on average.
The route combinations are very similar ....
As for why the TE's weren't targeted more and routes that appear to be "slow developing" , that's on the dude under center. I've gone back and watched literally every offensive play on All-22 last year and the times he flat out missed open guys underneath (Or chose not to) or on what should have been quicker passes is absolutely befuddling. Like I said above , its a philosophical issue , I said as much during last season as well.
Its not an issue of talent , the guy has all the physical gifts a QB could dream of .... but the mental aspect of the position is probably more important than those physical gifts , that's why a guy like Brady is The Goat and Peyton or Schaub were as successful as they were despite lacking "athleticism".
This is a case when your tunnel vision has betrayed you & you've zeroed in on 1 rinky dink stat that you think proves your point & it really doesn't; Not in the face of all the other numbers that show your stance to be flat out wrong.
His rookie season he only played in 5-6 games before getting injured.... we went 4-12
his 2nd full season...... we went 11-5
His 3rd full season......we went 10-6
During that 3 year span this is who he had protecting him for a number of games at 1 point or another as starters:
Julien Davenport
Breno Giacommini
Kendall Lamm
Senio Kelemete
Xavier Sua'filo
Chris Clark
Nick Martin
Zach Fulton
All career backups, most of which are out of league. & I can't find the data, but im sure he also had at least 70+ different o-line combinations in that time frame too. Keep in mind that he also lost a pro bowl LT & a 3X all pro WR in this time as well..
Now when Mahomes got beat up towards the end of the season last year, got knocked out of the playoff game against the Chiefs & then threw up that stinker in the SB & had back up quality guys protecting him like DW4 had his ENTIRE CAREER, what did the chiefs do? They
immediately went and completely overhauled their o-line the next offseason b/c they recognized what you clearly don't. That Mahomes (or any qb for that matter) is only as good as the protection he's getting..that great scheming and qb play can only go so far. Same for Brady, Same for Brees, Same Rodgers. THAT is the fundamental difference, not becoming a check down artist as a qb like you seem to be suggesting.
Now rewind that and look at what BoB & the Texans did in the 4 years of DW4's career. He went bargain bin shopping for 2 years & got career backups & put them in starting roles with an o-line coach that sucked at development. Then in a desperation move, traded off huge amounts of draft capital to shore up
1 position while neglecting the other 4. It all finally blew up last year.
Taylor is benefiting from the overhaul of the o-line that NC undertook when he got here. Develin gone. Martin gone. Fulton gone. Howard kicked inside to guard.