When in the not-too-distant future I'm reflecting from the rocking chair, glass of rosé in hand, at my nearly five decades in the sportswriting business, I'll fondly recall the Texans-49ers training camp practices of Aug. 15-16, 2018 at the Methodist Training Center.

No, it won't be for the stifling heat (normal) or for DeAndre Hopkins stealing a day off for getting into a quick fight with Jimmie Ward (brilliant) or for the subsequent taste-testing of NRG Stadium's new menu items (yum) but for the fact that two candidates for being among the best quarterbacks in the NFL five years down the road convened on the same field.

We had a glimpse into the future and it was exciting, although neither the Texans' Deshaun Watson nor the 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo were particularly dazzling Wednesday morning. Practice is practice, after all. If they were perfect, there would be no need for practice.

If I were I betting man, I'd be tempted to lay a Benjamin or five, if not the whole 401K stash, on Watson and Garoppolo squaring off in Super Bowl LVII. By February of 2023, the latter will be a well-seasoned 31, finishing his 10th season – but only his sixth of seeing significant playing time. The former will be 28 and six years into a career that, knock on wood, could be remembered here as the finest ever by a home-team quarterback.

Garoppolo's visit in combination with Jalen Ramsey's recent spouting off in the pages of GQ about the state of the current QB crop (the unfiltered Jaguars corner loves Watson, calling him a future MVP, but thinks Jimmy G is more a right-place-right-time product of Kyle Shanahan's system rather than being uniquely talented) had gotten me thinking about what the game's pecking order might look like five summers on.

Watson also will face off against the Rams' Jared Goff next weekend and, in the final preseason game, he'll get to chit-chat some with Dak Prescott with the Cowboys coming to NRG Stadium on Aug. 30. Goff and Prescott also made the cut for my list of the league's presumptive 10 best quarterbacks five years hence. Yes, the quarterback he's up against in the regular-season opener, that Brady fella, also received serious consideration.

For all we know, the 46-year-old Tom Brady, going into his 23rd season, could still be the big dog. At 40, he threw for 505 yards and three touchdowns in a Super Bowl he deserved to win, even if his defense or coach didn't. One writes off the great Patriot at one's own peril.

Then there's Aaron Rodgers. He seems no less inclined to yield to the dying of the light than Brady and he'll be "only" 39. The meaningful variations in his stats over the past five seasons have been injury-related, not the byproduct of an aging arm.

Drew Brees? Nah. Not at 44 ... right?

Andrew Luck is the 800-pound gorilla of a wild card in the mix. Until we see him throw again under fire, we won't know what he can be going forward. And he's stuck in a bad Colts organization, which makes a Luck-Carson Wentz Super Bowl in five years' time very unlikely.

But pretty much everybody is sold on Watson, his surgically repaired ACL notwithstanding. Ramsey's ranting and his questionable dating decisions (Google it if you haven't heard) notwithstanding, Garoppolo has few detractors, either, after a pristine 5-0 debut for the Niners following an in-season trade with the Patriots.

Coach Bill O'Brien, as he is wont to do, spoke glowingly of Watson's aptitude and work ethic Wednesday morning, closing with what pretty much every Texan fans would fist-bump him for: "I'm really happy he's our quarterback." Other credible voices chimed in accordingly.

Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph was emphatically down with the notion Watson and Garopplo are when, not if, elites in the making.

"If I was a GM or an owner," Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph said, "I'd definitely be looking to get those guys on my team."

Or, hopefully at least in the Texans' case, keeping them right where they are.

"He's able to get the ball out quick and make the right reads and decisions," Joseph said of Garoppolo. "He ended last season on fire. A franchise quarterback? Definitely. And I watch Deshaun every day. He's an exceptional player. He throws guys open (with his passing touch) and that's what you need."

Andre Johnson, still the greatest Texans offensive player ever, attended the workout in large part to see all the former Texans, teammates and coaches, who have followed Gary Kubiak's one-time offensive coordinator Shanahan to San Francisco. I asked him to weigh in on two callow quarterbacks he got to study as an ancillary benefit.

"Very talented with very bright futures for both of them," Johnson said. "Just to see them out here today, man, that was fun."

Johnson, however, predicted the elder statesman Rodgers and the ironically named Luck would still be front and center in this conversation a half-decade on. He had the pleasure of playing his last complete season with the latter, so he speaks from in-the-huddle experience. The Eagles' Carson Wentz impresses him similarly.

"I watched Carson a lot (when he played) in college," Johnson said. "To find a guy that big and that athletic, who moves very well, that's unusual. Most guys like that are only pocket passers."

But his favorite young gun, no question, is Watson.

"He's quiet-natured, but he's tough as nails," Johnson said. "Because he's quiet, people don't see that side of him. You saw how he handled the injury, how he's come back. Yeah, we talk some. I wanted to get to know him. He's funny. He's always teasing me about going out and running routes for him."

We can only imagine how much Johnson wishes he could.

Crystal ball time:

Predicting the 10 best quarterbacks in the NFL in 2023:

1. Carson Wentz, Eagles – His body of work to date speaks for itself. He was on his way to a possible, even likely, MVP season in 2017 when he went down with a knee injury of his own.

2. Deshaun Watson, Texans – Nineteen touchdown passes in 6½ games? With that Texans offense? Crazy.

3. Jimmy Garropolo, 49ers – He's 7-0 as an NFL starter, and he won five of those games after taking over a 1-10 49ers team.

4. Andrew Luck, Colts – Until he blew up his shoulder, he was trending toward Canton, needing just three years to reach the AFC championship Game while throwing for nearly 20,000 yards in 4½ seasons spent on the field.

5. Aaron Rodgers, Packers – He has rifled 56 touchdowns in his past 23 games. This is not a quarterback aging ungracefully.

6. Russell Wilson, Seahawks – He gets hit too much because he rarely concedes defeat on a play, but he has started 108 consecutive games, including two Super Bowls in his first three seasons.

7. Jared Goff, Rams – He improved dramatically from his first season to the next, becoming a Pro Bowler. If Todd Gurley's legs can hold up for five more seasons and Wade Phillips, who may coach until he's 100, keeps the defense on point, Goff has an unfettered upside.

8. Nick Foles, TBD – Foles likely won't make the list in five years if he remains an Eagle, but he won a Super Bowl when afforded the opportunity.

9. Dak Prescott, Cowboys – We've seen the good Dak (2016, when he threw for 23 touchdowns with only four interceptions for a 13-3 team) and the bad Dak (2017, when the numbers were 23, 13, and 9-7). Who's the real Dak? If it's the former, he'll be a lot higher than No. 9 in 2023.

10. Derek Carr, Raiders – The broken leg he suffered in late 2016 knocked him off course. This season will be telling.