Stop calling Sammy Watkins a stud

[ericanadian]

For the most part, I agree with some others that have posted that Watkins in LA seems to me, right now, more likely to be an upgrade than downgrade. If I'm an owner, I'm cautiously optimistic. Goff doesn't need to be elite, just competent.

That said, Watkins may end up disappointed with his target volume. The D-Jax role in McVay's offense averaged about 100 targets per 16 games. That's about a 6 target per week average. With Cooper Kupp coming on strong, McVay reportedly excited about using Gurley more as a pass-catcher, and optimism regarding the Everett/Higbee TE tandem's potential, Watkins will probably need to get zen about sharing, and focus on making big plays vertically with fewer targets. Which I think he can do, of course.

I find all the "direct" comparisons to McVay's Washington offenses a bit odd. We all tout McVay as being a great offensive mind who will do great things to get the most out of his players, but then we assume Watkins will be relinquished to solely a vertical role (or at least D-Jax's more limited vertical role). McVay has never had someone of Watkins caliber or talent at his disposal, if we really think he is as great a coaching mind and a teacher of those around him, I would be surprised if Watkins was relinquished to such a limited aspect of his game. He should be a center piece of the passing game---don't think they make this trade solely for a vertical threat, there are much cheaper options out there for that. It may take a bit to get up to speed, but I believe we will see targets reflecting his talent sooner rather than later.

Fair point. In the second preseason game, the depth of target on the passes to Watkins were 19, 5, -2 & 28. No idea what the overall route split looked like, but it seems like they'll use him as more than an exclusive deep threat.

[Kurt G.O.A.T.]

For the most part, I agree with some others that have posted that Watkins in LA seems to me, right now, more likely to be an upgrade than downgrade. If I'm an owner, I'm cautiously optimistic. Goff doesn't need to be elite, just competent.

That said, Watkins may end up disappointed with his target volume. The D-Jax role in McVay's offense averaged about 100 targets per 16 games. That's about a 6 target per week average. With Cooper Kupp coming on strong, McVay reportedly excited about using Gurley more as a pass-catcher, and optimism regarding the Everett/Higbee TE tandem's potential, Watkins will probably need to get zen about sharing, and focus on making big plays vertically with fewer targets. Which I think he can do, of course.

I find all the "direct" comparisons to McVay's Washington offenses a bit odd. We all tout McVay as being a great offensive mind who will do great things to get the most out of his players, but then we assume Watkins will be relinquished to solely a vertical role (or at least D-Jax's more limited vertical role). McVay has never had someone of Watkins caliber or talent at his disposal, if we really think he is as great a coaching mind and a teacher of those around him, I would be surprised if Watkins was relinquished to such a limited aspect of his game. He should be a center piece of the passing game---don't think they make this trade solely for a vertical threat, there are much cheaper options out there for that. It may take a bit to get up to speed, but I believe we will see targets reflecting his talent sooner rather than later.

he will use him everywhere but he is the best deep threat on the team. would be crazy not to get the ball in his hands. i'm loving how the rams are shaping up on offense. imagine once they bring tavon into the mix. what a difference to the broken down dinosaur offense jeff fisher used with similarly good athletes but useless football players he liked to draft.

[StableOfRBs]

For the most part, I agree with some others that have posted that Watkins in LA seems to me, right now, more likely to be an upgrade than downgrade. If I'm an owner, I'm cautiously optimistic. Goff doesn't need to be elite, just competent.

That said, Watkins may end up disappointed with his target volume. The D-Jax role in McVay's offense averaged about 100 targets per 16 games. That's about a 6 target per week average. With Cooper Kupp coming on strong, McVay reportedly excited about using Gurley more as a pass-catcher, and optimism regarding the Everett/Higbee TE tandem's potential, Watkins will probably need to get zen about sharing, and focus on making big plays vertically with fewer targets. Which I think he can do, of course.

I find all the "direct" comparisons to McVay's Washington offenses a bit odd. We all tout McVay as being a great offensive mind who will do great things to get the most out of his players, but then we assume Watkins will be relinquished to solely a vertical role (or at least D-Jax's more limited vertical role). McVay has never had someone of Watkins caliber or talent at his disposal, if we really think he is as great a coaching mind and a teacher of those around him, I would be surprised if Watkins was relinquished to such a limited aspect of his game. He should be a center piece of the passing game---don't think they make this trade solely for a vertical threat, there are much cheaper options out there for that. It may take a bit to get up to speed, but I believe we will see targets reflecting his talent sooner rather than later.

he will use him everywhere but he is the best deep threat on the team. would be crazy not to get the ball in his hands. i'm loving how the rams are shaping up on offense. imagine once they bring tavon into the mix. what a difference to the broken down dinosaur offense jeff fisher used with similarly good athletes but useless football players he liked to draft.

...you mean like Tavon Austin?

[Kurt G.O.A.T.]

I find all the "direct" comparisons to McVay's Washington offenses a bit odd. We all tout McVay as being a great offensive mind who will do great things to get the most out of his players, but then we assume Watkins will be relinquished to solely a vertical role (or at least D-Jax's more limited vertical role). McVay has never had someone of Watkins caliber or talent at his disposal, if we really think he is as great a coaching mind and a teacher of those around him, I would be surprised if Watkins was relinquished to such a limited aspect of his game. He should be a center piece of the passing game---don't think they make this trade solely for a vertical threat, there are much cheaper options out there for that. It may take a bit to get up to speed, but I believe we will see targets reflecting his talent sooner rather than later.

he will use him everywhere but he is the best deep threat on the team. would be crazy not to get the ball in his hands. i'm loving how the rams are shaping up on offense. imagine once they bring tavon into the mix. what a difference to the broken down dinosaur offense jeff fisher used with similarly good athletes but useless football players he liked to draft.

...you mean like Tavon Austin?

that was a snead pick. there's no way a dinosaur like fisher would pick a player like austin. they were supposed to morph into a spread type offense the year they drafted him. fisher would have none of it. sort of gave it a halfhearted attempt for 4 weeks then changed back to his bread and butter offense. so tavon has been in a kind of wasteland for 4 years. let's see how he goes in a real offense.

same with goff, that was a snead pick all the way. fisher only had eyes for keenum and ruined any first year success for goff with his coaching appointments, who were utterly useless, and refusing to make things easier for goff in his rookie year. some of the verbage had 20+ words. worst situation for a rookie qb i've ever seen.

[Oddball456]

I haven't seen a single snap from a Rams game so far in 2017, that said:

2 games in as a Ram and Sammy has 7 Catches on 7 Targets for 88 yards, no TDs. Played 59% of the Off plays in week 1 and 90% week 2.

I was hoping to use him as my WR3 or Flex this year but so far it hasn't been working out. I know it is still early in the season but he did play in some preseason games as well, so he isn't completely new to the team at this point. Thoughts on him for the rest of 2017?

[maxhyde]

I haven't seen a single snap from a Rams game so far in 2017, that said:

2 games in as a Ram and Sammy has 7 Catches on 7 Targets for 88 yards, no TDs. Played 59% of the Off plays in week 1 and 90% week 2.

I was hoping to use him as my WR3 or Flex this year but so far it hasn't been working out. I know it is still early in the season but he did play in some preseason games as well, so he isn't completely new to the team at this point. Thoughts on him for the rest of 2017?

As he gets better oriented with the offense his usage should pick up. Goff isn't a dummy and Watkins is easily his best option. Being out targeted by Woods/Kupp and Gurley is I think just a result of coming over a little later in the offseason.
I would expect as the season goes on he will get more and more targets and by mid-point I expect he is leading the Rams in targets weekly.

Give it some time...I also think when he gets going Gurley is going to benefit

[pvillebiker]

yes, said another way, both Sammy & Goff are limited by lack of familiarity and chemistry with each other now, early in the season. Totally expected with the late pre-season trade. Also limiting Sammy's production is where Goff is in his acclimation to the league. I view Goff largely as a rookie QB this year. If he was truly a rookie, we probably wouldn't sweat the lack of production too much yet, Watson & Nuk for instance.

Having said all that, as a Sammy owner, I am a bit worried about the chemistry Goff & Kupp seem to have. Goff clearly trusts and likes Kupp immensely. Will likely take all year for Sammy & Goff to even approach that. And it's not a lock that it will. My $$'s on Sammy being a much better and more consistent fantasy option by week 9 or 10. Good luck until then!

[Valhalla]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

That will certainly be the case. As a Parker fan I've been bitching about Tannehill and Landry for 2 years now.

Watkins just strikes me as one of those guys who never seems to deliver, and there's excuses and he's young and his situation is bad so any flaws are overlooked. Then one day he's in his mid-late 20s and still not delivering what we'd hoped and you can't keep making excuses anymore. I thought I could at least start him as a flex in the league I own him but I can't even do that.

Edit: Watkins also believes the earth is flat.

[skip]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

If someone starts a "most talented WRs" thread similar to the one for RBs, Watkins would be easily in my top 5.

[cweds]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

That will certainly be the case. As a Parker fan I've been bitching about Tannehill and Landry for 2 years now.

Watkins just strikes me as one of those guys who never seems to deliver, and there's excuses and he's young and his situation is bad so any flaws are overlooked. Then one day he's in his mid-late 20s and still not delivering what we'd hoped and you can't keep making excuses anymore. I thought I could at least start him as a flex in the league I own him but I can't even do that.

Edit: Watkins also believes the earth is flat.

I think you could make the argument he was delivering before his foot injury. His trajectory from his first two seasons looked very promising.

Rookie year: 982/6
Sophomore year: 1047/9 (only 13 games)

Even if we assume he never improves on his sophomore season production, it still prorates to almost 1300 yards and 11 TD's in a full season. Obviously, the key is he needs to be healthy (which he seems to be now) but I'm still holding out hope. It seems like young QB's often throw towards the targets they're comfortable with and Sammy doesn't have that connection yet. If they still don't by week 9 or 10 then maybe we need to reevaluate but I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

If someone starts a "most talented WRs" thread similar to the one for RBs, Watkins would be easily in my top 5.

Jk skip

[Cameron Giles]

Been making sure to catch most Rams games this season, mostly out of my enamoration for Sean McVay's offense. Watkins looked good against the Colts. They could've went to him more, but the game got out of hand quickly.

McVay seemed to indicate that Watkins was the primary read on a lot of plays for the Rams against Washington, but the Redskins defended it well, so they went to other reads. That said, it's clear that Goff has beer goggles for Kupp. On the game-ending interception, Goff stared Kupp down for a good minute and Mason Foster saw it the entire way.

I still think this offense is a great fit for Watkins skill set, but they need to open up his talent. He's their best possession receiver and deep threat. Watkins offers a mix of Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson's role in McVay's offense.

[Cameron Giles]

I think at the close of this year Sammy owners will still be griping about how much better Sammy is than Kupp and how stupid Goff is for not targeting him as the heavy favorite.

That will certainly be the case. As a Parker fan I've been bitching about Tannehill and Landry for 2 years now.

Watkins just strikes me as one of those guys who never seems to deliver, and there's excuses and he's young and his situation is bad so any flaws are overlooked. Then one day he's in his mid-late 20s and still not delivering what we'd hoped and you can't keep making excuses anymore. I thought I could at least start him as a flex in the league I own him but I can't even do that.

Edit: Watkins also believes the earth is flat.

This reads like Michael Crabtree in San Francisco. Battled injuries and bad/conservative QB play for his tenure there. Goes to Oakland, stays healthy, Carr emerges as a Top 10 QB and Crabtree starts putting up WR1 numbers.

[ninotoreS]

Crabtree was not a WR1 last year.

Anyway...

My early optimism regarding Watkins to LA has cooled. Mainly because Jared Goff still isn't flashing any sort of credible deep-ball. In fact, his worst throws are usually deep shots outside the hashmarks. This isn't good for Sammy Watkins.

edit: oh my god https://www.google.com/search?client=op ... 8&oe=UTF-8

Sammy is dead to me.

I don't expect athletes to be geniuses, but I do expect them to be able to think critically on a basic level, like any human being worth their carbon-footprint.