Watkins 6'0 3/4" 211lbs.

[all day]

Okay, this conversation is heading down the Tavon Austin conversation from last year. Lots of people got carried away predicting 100 catches and 1000 yards as a rookie. Those are crazy numbers, especially for a rookie.

I think that the biggest issue evaluators are having with Watkins is finding a comparison. There isn't a good one and the best one may have been a rookie last year in Patterson. Both caught a majority of their catches in college near the line of scrimmage and made things happen. They have to learn how to be receivers. Patterson put up 400 and 4 TD's. I would guess 600 is about what Watkins will end up with.

Another way to put this in perspective. Style wise his game probably is going to be most like Harvin or Cobb. He is bigger I know but he will probably play similarly. As successful as both of them have been, neither has had a 1000 receiving yard season yet. I know you throw in rushing and they get there but I just want to try to help temper expectations.

Just to make it so I am not labeled a hater, Sammy is still in my top tier of wrs. If I had the #1 pick and I couldn't trade it, he is the pick. But 1000 receiving yards from Sammy is a high bar.

[RossOfTheYear]

So are the Pierre Garcon comparisons, because they're roughly the same height, dead now?

I still see Watkins as a 1 inch shorter Dez/Julio hybrid. He's not afraid of contact, he'll run through people, he hand catches everything. While he does do very well on screens, so does Julio. It's more of a "get him open in space and he can do the rest" rather than "he can't get the ball any other way" in my eyes. It's also partly due to Boyd not having the best arm.

[clarion contrarion]

Watkins love trickling out...

King states he is one of three players to receive love across the board. Predicts he will have 1,000 yard season REGARDLESS of quarterback situation. Interesting.

getting fantasy advice from peter king is more dangerous than having tony romo hold for a PAT
I tuned him out when he predicted najeh davenport would lead the league in rushing yards many years ago
watkins may get to 1000 yards but i say 700 and 4 or 5 tds are a better bet and he will be a sweet buy low this time next year.

[Hjorimir]

I drafted Arian Foster in 2010 because of a report by Peter King...that worked out pretty well.

[guyatwork37]

Okay, this conversation is heading down the Tavon Austin conversation from last year. Lots of people got carried away predicting 100 catches and 1000 yards as a rookie. Those are crazy numbers, especially for a rookie.

I think that the biggest issue evaluators are having with Watkins is finding a comparison. There isn't a good one and the best one may have been a rookie last year in Patterson. Both caught a majority of their catches in college near the line of scrimmage and made things happen. They have to learn how to be receivers. Patterson put up 400 and 4 TD's. I would guess 600 is about what Watkins will end up with.

Another way to put this in perspective. Style wise his game probably is going to be most like Harvin or Cobb. He is bigger I know but he will probably play similarly. As successful as both of them have been, neither has had a 1000 receiving yard season yet. I know you throw in rushing and they get there but I just want to try to help temper expectations.

Just to make it so I am not labeled a hater, Sammy is still in my top tier of wrs. If I had the #1 pick and I couldn't trade it, he is the pick. But 1000 receiving yards from Sammy is a high bar.

Difference is everyone was aware that Patterson was very raw. Watkins is not. He's rather polished. Not saying he's a 1000 yard guy in year one, but I would expect more than 600 yards as well. Maybe a similar season to Hopkins is the right expectation?

[italian_stallion21]

A good comparison would be Torrey Smith methinks.

[all day]

Difference is everyone was aware that Patterson was very raw. Watkins is not. He's rather polished. Not saying he's a 1000 yard guy in year one, but I would expect more than 600 yards as well. Maybe a similar season to Hopkins is the right expectation?

Why is Watkins not raw? It is not like he ran many routes down the field. 69% of his receptions last year were caught within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage or less and 57% of them were off of screens. His YAC was pretty high but everyone knows that is his strength. He will have to learn the route tree to be a top wide receiver in the NFL similar to Patterson.

800 yards is possible. Harvin got to 790 in his rookie year but he did have Brett Favre throwing him the ball. I would be very surprised if Watkins ends up on a team with a QB of that caliber.

[Jimmy Jones]

A good comparison would be Torrey Smith methinks.

I would be very disappointed if I drafted Watkins and he turned out to be the next Torrey Smith while Mike Evans turned into the next Alshon Jefferey. Watkins measurables make him look exactly like Torrey which concerns me, but then again, why would he be getting top5 overall pick buzz if he is a clone of a guy drafted towards the end of the second round?

[italian_stallion21]

I guess the comparison comes from the fact that he's roughly the same type of player who has had success at the NFL level. Just because he's the 1.01 doesn't mean he's a guaranteed top 10 WR.

[Cy23]

A good comparison would be Torrey Smith methinks.

I would be very disappointed if I drafted Watkins and he turned out to be the next Torrey Smith while Mike Evans turned into the next Alshon Jefferey. Watkins measurables make him look exactly like Torrey which concerns me, but then again, why would he be getting top5 overall pick buzz if he is a clone of a guy drafted towards the end of the second round?

I guess the comparison comes from the fact that he's roughly the same type of player who has had success at the NFL level. Just because he's the 1.01 doesn't mean he's a guaranteed top 10 WR.

Jimmy Jones point was that Watkins is getting buzz that he will go in the top 10 in the NFL Draft (maybe even #5), whereas Torrey Smith was a second round pick.


I honestly have no clue and am just waiting to see how things end up.

[italian_stallion21]

And I understand that, I just thought we were comparing players, not where they were drafted. You obviously hope that your 1.01 turns out to be a complete stud, but that doesn't happen very often. Think we need to temper our expectations a little bit you know? You obviously want him to be more AJ Green than Mark Ingram, but he'll probably end up somewhere in the middle.

[KMA]

Surely the teams drafting the guy know something right? But then again, there is Tavon...

[1standgoal]

I never did get how a 5'8 170lb guy was supposed to be some magnificent game changing wide receiver. I'm way more impressed by Watkins than I ever was by Tavon.

[Statutony]

I don't really get why everyone makes the Torry Smith comparison. I mean he's probably similar except in my opinion a better route runner and has better hands.

If we are going purely on stature why not say he's a faster Justin Blackmon or Michael Crabtree?

[1standgoal]

I just gotta laugh at the comments about Sammy "not running routes." From what I've seen on videos he ran some very clean routes. The man ran routes and scored, he caught screen passes and scored, he even took the ball out of the backfield and scored. The guy is a weapon.

I can understand if you don't have the 1st or 2nd pick and you are trying to console yourself from the fact that your missing out on the best skill player in the draft. But c'mon, you know better than that.

*I almost forgot, he threw for touchdowns too.