Chris Godwin Heat Check

[FantasyFreak]

Same arguments I heard all year about how JuJu was going to be worth 3 x more this year than last year, and that AB didn't do much for JuJu LOL. JuJu played 60 percent in the slot last year; AB was the focus of all defenses. Godwin is very talented, but Mike Evans is a soon to be 6 time 1000 yard receiver...

Well that's BS, right off the bat. Find me the quotes. Juju was already a borderline first round startup pick, so adding 3 firsts would be to a level nobody has seen. Secondly, Those predictions you grossly exaggerated were made on the assumption Ben would play and be healthy. They are on their 3rd string QB.

BTW, I agree with Evans being a reason Godwin is having the amount of success he is having, but your comments on Juju I have to assume are hyperbole.

[purplepride28]

Nobody’s attributing jujus decline to Big Ben not being the qb? I would think that would be the main argument when jujus brought up. So I just don’t see the comparison.
If you watched the game today you’d see godwin get chipped within 5yards and have high and low coverage on him most of the game. Evans had Bradberry on him all game.
Evans should have had 200 yards and a couple tds but he’s got terrible hands and ball awareness and converted 17 targets into 9 catches.
Evans has won for years with size and being force fed the ball, which most likely hasn’t helped Jameis.
Godwins emergence has helped Jameis be better quarterback.

[FantasyFreak]

Nobody’s attributing jujus decline to Big Ben not being the qb? I would think that would be the main argument when jujus brought up. So I just don’t see the comparison.
If you watched the game today you’d see godwin get chipped within 5yards and have high and low coverage on him most of the game. Evans had Bradberry on him all game.
Evans should have had 200 yards and a couple tds but he’s got terrible hands and ball awareness and converted 17 targets into 9 catches.
Evans has won for years with size and being force fed the ball, which most likely hasn’t helped Jameis.
Godwins emergence has helped Jameis be better quarterback.

So 5 INT's in 1 game (and 7 turnovers) is better? I have no stake in this, I have Evans AND Godwin, but that's disingenuous. That drop at the end of the half was Evans first drop all year. The comment about Winston being a better QB to me shows you have "ownership" bias. Godwin is a great young WR, but without Evans on the other side, his stats decline.

[PTW32]

I dont know who is the better WR and its pretty clear Evans is still getting the other teams top corner but after watch yesterdays game I expect Winston to target Godwin alot more than Evams going forward. Hes trying to keep his job and Evans isnt helping him with drops, not coming back to the ball, not locating the ball when winston puts it up to give him a chance etc

[Cameron Giles]

I dont know who is the better WR and its pretty clear Evans is still getting the other teams top corner but after watch yesterdays game I expect Winston to target Godwin alot more than Evams going forward. Hes trying to keep his job and Evans isnt helping him with drops, not coming back to the ball, not locating the ball when winston puts it up to give him a chance etc

"Drops"

Yesterday was Evans first drop of the season. The one play against the Panthers is not a representation of how Evans has played this season.

Anyone blaming Evans for how streaky Winston has been this season isn't watching games.

[kmbryant09]

I think people oversimplify their arguments about Godwin / Evans.

Yes, Evans sees more man coverage and likely against better CBs. That doesn't necessarily mean he's more talented than Godwin, or better than him, or that defenses fear him more than Godwin. There's 2 pieces to the argument that get overlooked:

1. Almost every team's best CB plays primarily on the outside. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but the only CB's I can think of that are their team's best and play a significant amount of snaps in the slot are Chris Harris (who's actually been moved outside more in Fangio's defense) & Darius Slay. All of the other top-tier CB's play primarily on the outside - Ramsey / Gilmore / Peterson / Sherman / Hayward / Rhodes / etc. - they are all bigger CB's that thrive on physicality, size, and length (and technique, obviously). Playing slot CB is an entirely different ball game, and usually lends itself to smaller, quicker CB's.

2. On the other side of the equation, it takes a different skill set for a WR to be able to play in the slot vs. playing outside. Godwin has a seemingly perfect blend of size (6'1 / 210 and built like a rock), speed (4.4 speed / 90th percentile speed score), route running (74th percentile agility score), and strength (most bench press reps among WR's at the combine). Basically, he's quick enough to avoid press coverage, fast enough and good enough route runner to get open, and then strong enough to work the middle of the field and absorb hits from safeties & linebackers.

Would his game translate 100% if he was asked to be a perimeter receiver? Absolutely not. But likewise, would Evans' game benefit & translate 100% if he suddenly moved into the slot? Absolutely not - 6'5 receivers are rarely quick enough in & out of their breaks to utilize the short/intermediate middle of the field.

Does Godwin benefit from having Evans on the outside? Yes, I think he does. Does he benefit from getting to play the slot? Yes, he does. Is he the prototypical big slot WR in today's game? Yes, I think he is. Is he absolutely balling out? Yes, he is. Is Mike Evans balling out? Yes & no - he's the same player he's been through 5 seasons, which is a great boundary / vertical threat as a size/speed combo. He's going to draw above-average CB's throughout his entire career, and he's going to be inconsistent game-to-game because of the nature of his targets & defensive assignments.

Not sure why we get so fascinated comparing the 2 players. Looks like Godwin is penciled in as a top10 WR who should offer a pretty good combination of consistency & week-winning upside. Evans looks better suited as a fantasy WR2 - he will likely finish as a top10 WR still, but lacks the consistency and floor to be a true WR1, but he still offers week-winning upside as we saw against the Rams. As owners of either Godwin or Evans, let's sit back and enjoy their production - let's keep our fingers crossed that Winston is good enough to at least keep his job throughout the season.

[CGW]

Seems like a reasonable argument. I'm on board for the Godwin is a better slot receiver right now narrative. Also think both could end up top 10 receivers this year, and happy to have shares of both.

[PTW32]

I dont know who is the better WR and its pretty clear Evans is still getting the other teams top corner but after watch yesterdays game I expect Winston to target Godwin alot more than Evams going forward. Hes trying to keep his job and Evans isnt helping him with drops, not coming back to the ball, not locating the ball when winston puts it up to give him a chance etc

"Drops"

Yesterday was Evans first drop of the season. The one play against the Panthers is not a representation of how Evans has played this season.

Anyone blaming Evans for how streaky Winston has been this season isn't watching games.

Ok 1 bad drop, 1 scramble drill where he gets lazy and doesnt come back to the ball letting the defender break it up and one jump ball where he doesnt locate the ball gives the denfender an easy interception.

I'm not saying Evans is the reason Winston sucks, Winston is bad. What I'm saying is that if I had to pick between Godwin and Evan next week I'm picking Godwin. My reasoning for that is that Winston is trying to keep his job and he might feel like throwing to Godwin gives him a better chance to do that.

That being said, I own both in different league and will be starting both for the forseeable future.

[Pullo Vision]

Bunch of interesting Godwin threads, but I'll bump this one.

So, thoughts on Godwin now? I wasn't mad hyped on him and sold him before his big blow up year. This year, he got the Winston to Brady upgrade but injury and competition (Gronk and Brown) smashed his production.

Now he's a FA. Has what he's shown he can do at the NFL level give you confidence he can replicate his blow up year?

[CGW]

I still have high hopes for him. He missed 4 games and played through a broken thumb. He still averaged 15.92 (WR15) points per game in 2020 despite the injuries and more competition.

I'd prefer him to go elsewhere for fantasy production, but even in Tampa hes a guy I want to own long term.

[CL3VELANDBR0WNS]

Drops were a concern down the stretch but it does kind of add up considering he broke his finger in the middle of the year. I see him returning to old form when healthy. Could've made a big play in the superbowl if Brady didn't throw a wounded duck.

[nathanq42]

He was a high end WR2 when playing through multiple injuries on 7 targets per game from Brady with an arm that shows his age at times (he is still all there between the ears though). Him and Evans will be fine (mostly because they have been fine this whole time)

I think if he can go somewhere he can be an alpha he would still thrive, where I think someone similar (Looking at you JuJu) would not. Ideally he can link up with Watson in NY or MIA but that is ideal scenario for any WR right now

[Pullo Vision]

On that idea of pairing with Watson, saw an idea floated of Godwin joining him in Indy.

[bjd5211]

On that idea of pairing with Watson, saw an idea floated of Godwin joining him in Indy.

Texans aren't going to trade Watson in the division. If they are going to play together it will be for the Jets, that's really the only team that can pull off both trading for Watson and signing Godwin.

[Pullo Vision]

On that idea of pairing with Watson, saw an idea floated of Godwin joining him in Indy.

Texans aren't going to trade Watson in the division. If they are going to play together it will be for the Jets, that's really the only team that can pull off both trading for Watson and signing Godwin.

Dammit meant Winston.