RD1, Pick #4: WR Sammy Watkins - Clemson

[26CornerBlitz]

Those are things I pointed out the second he picked his number. Also: born June 14th.

 

Assigned/Picked #14 on the 14th of May.

[papazoid]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10927729/nfl-sammy-watkins-impact-not-equal-price-buffalo-bills-paid?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn....id?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

 

That's largely a function of the way college defenses played against Watkins last year. In his freshman year, they didn't show him as much "respect" because he was an unproven commodity and the Tigers used him much more like a conventional WR by running different routes.

 

Someone at ESPN hasn't done their homework.

[sodbuster]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10927729/nfl-sammy-watkins-impact-not-equal-price-buffalo-bills-paid?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

Quick screens don't work in the NFL. Somebody should tell the patriots*.

[section122]

Quick screens don't work in the NFL. Somebody should tell the patriots*.

I wonder what the narrative would be if any other team had made this trade. Watkins went from being the most dynamite offensive prospect to oh he's on the Bills? He won't be very good.

[Big C]

Hey! Some positive press about our #1 pick: http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/0ap2000000350468/article/afc-east-draft-grades-sammy-watkins-worth-high-cost-for-bills

[Kelly the Dog]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10927729/nfl-sammy-watkins-impact-not-equal-price-buffalo-bills-paid?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

That is a nonsense criticism by someone who didn't follow what was going on in the actual games.

[YoloinOhio]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn....id?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

He was running screens because he could. Why was it that he could? Because the defense knew he could beat press coverage and were playing off of him. Pick your poison, DCs.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

He was running screens because he could. Why was it that he could? Because the defense knew he could beat press coverage and were playing off of him. Pick your poison, DCs.

 

that is true. one of the question marks that was brought up was whether he could beat press coverage . everyone played off to beat him at the line.

 

look, i'm a watkins skeptic, but percy harvin gets production. we already have outside wr's in williams and woods, so i see him as a moveable chess piece

[Steve in Carolina]

I think he would have been available at 9. Maybe Tampa would have picked him but doubt it. Not a fan of this trade.

Your an idiot thinking he would be there at 9. Great trade!

[26CornerBlitz]

Your an idiot thinking he would be there at 9. Great trade!

[Kelly the Dog]

 

What stinks for me is that "Your an idiot" is a long standing tradition here on the wall. I will often spell it that way just to make myself and a few others here smirk. But I never know when someone else writes it that way whether they are paying homage, or, well, an idjit.

[YoloinOhio]

@SalSports: Back shoulder fade to @sammywatkins. Gotta think #Bills will use it, esp. in RZ: http://www.draftbreakdown.com/gif-embed/?clip=248729&gif=FrailFortunateAmericanwigeon …

[26CornerBlitz]

What stinks for me is that "Your an idiot" is a long standing tradition here on the wall. I will often spell it that way just to make myself and a few others here smirk. But I never know when someone else writes it that way whether they are paying homage, or, well, an idjit.

 

There are quite a few idjits these days. It's great when someone does it for effect. OTOH, it's the height of hilarity and irony when someone does it unintentionally.

[All_Pro_Bills]

Warning signs for Bills' top pick

 

Sammy Watkins' impact appears unlikely to equal price Buffalo paid

 

http://insider.espn....id?refresh=true

 

Watkins gained 71.3 percent of his receiving yards after the catch (YAC). That's an absurd number. Watkins will not come close to those numbers in the NFL, where most wide receivers average less than 40 percent in YAC. The hidden source of Watkins' YAC is just how often he catches short passes. We're not just talking about 4-yard curls either. According to STATS LLC, Watkins caught 58 of his 101 receptions (57.4 percent) on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage. That's often a quick screen. Again, this will not work in the NFL.

I can only sit here in wonder and awe at how these experts uncover so many positives and negatives about various players choosen in the draft that these woefully clueless 32 GMs and their scouting staffs are so unaware of when making their evaluations.

 

I look at it this way. If you put the 32 teams into the 4th spot as the board fell the way it did how many of them are going to pick Watkins, or maybe Mack? More than likely all 32 with those looking for some offensive help selecting Watkins and those looking for defensive help taking Mack. The Bills picked the consensus best offensive player available in the draft and after 1,000's of hours of scouting, discussions, and evaluations, I am supposed to believe his game won't translate?

 

The quick screen will not work in the NFL game? Really? This guy must be watching game tape from the 1970's.

 

Give me a break already..

Edited May 15, 2014 by All_Pro_Bills

[QCity]

The quick screen will not work in the NFL game? Really? This guy must be watching game tape from the 1970's.

 

Give me a break already..

 

He's not saying the quick screen won't work in the NFL game, he saying it won't work at that frequency. Show me a #1 receiver that catches ~60% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage. Can you picture any receiver in the NFL catching that many passes behind the line of scrimmage? What works great in the ACC doesn't always work in the NFL, that's what he's essentially saying.

[26CornerBlitz]

He's not saying the quick screen won't work in the NFL game, he saying it won't work at that frequency. Show me a #1 receiver that catches ~60% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage. Can you picture any receiver in the NFL catching that many passes behind the line of scrimmage? What works great in the ACC doesn't always work in the NFL, that's what he's essentially saying.

 

Notice that the article is only focused on Watkins in 2013. If it wasn't such a lazy piece, the author would have also researched and shown how Watkins was utilized in the previous two years.

[Kelly the Dog]

He's not saying the quick screen won't work in the NFL game, he saying it won't work at that frequency. Show me a #1 receiver that catches ~60% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage. Can you picture any receiver in the NFL catching that many passes behind the line of scrimmage? What works great in the ACC doesn't always work in the NFL, that's what he's essentially saying.

But the percentage of passes like that which he caught in college had ZERO to do with his other abilities as a WR that do translate, all of which he excels at. It was lazy reporting just looking at statistics. There is nothing at all in his tool set and skills that says he will not be able to run NFL routes and be productive. He did that fabulous, too. The only reason for the high percentage, according to him and his coach and just watching the games, was because other teams would not take that away because they were scared of him. That is not a deficiency is his game.

[Wayne Cubed]

Notice that the article is only focused on Watkins in 2013. If it wasn't such a lazy piece, the author would have also researched and shown how Watkins was utilized in the previous two years.

 

Or at the very least researched why he was catching so many balls behind the LOS. Which is a pretty simple answer. Because press coverage, which is how defenses covered Waktins his freshman year, wasn't working. He'd blow past it. Hence cover 2 and 3 and giving him a cushion. And the offense smartly said, "Ok, if you're going to give us 5 yards every time, we'll take it".

[bbb]

My question then becomes who are you going to trade with? Oakland wanted Mack and Atlanta wanted Matthews. I'm willing to bet they were both content to stay and pick at their positions. This leaves a clear path for Evans to wind up in Tampa. Without trading up to 4, for Evans, I just don't see anywhere the Bills could move to get him. And if they are going to move to 4, why would they not take the #1 WR there, not Evans?

 

Then if it we had nobody to trade with, I would have stayed at nine and picked Ebron. I was just thinking that if it took Cleveland only a 5 to move up one spot, maybe it would take only a 3 to move up two.

 

I'm convinced that Ross Cockrell kicked Mike Evans arse in the bowl game.

 

Sammy had some crappy games, too.

 

That is a nonsense criticism by someone who didn't follow what was going on in the actual games.

 

Did you really watch all the Clemson games?............I'd like there to be a system where we pick out players when they're freshmen, but they don't join us until junior or senior year. That way, I'd watch all of our prospects. Like the minors in baseball.......... The way it is now, I'm like damn - I wish I watched Clemson! Or whatever our pick of the year is from.