Saturday, December 14, 2013

Sammy Watkins: Notes from 2013 FBS Games, GIFs, Grade, and Player Comparison


Watkins vs. Georgia


  • Makes strong, contested catch. Nice route on comeback, even though he rounds the route. Had created separation by then.
  • Nice cut block on bubble screen.
  • Catches Ball behind him, runs over safety, outruns D for 60 + TD. "Wow" play
  • Draws DPI knowing he had no chance to catch the ball, smart. 
  • Sat in zone nicely on spot route, no target, but showed good awareness in zone.
  • Gets to top speed very quickly on reverse.
Good game by Watkins, was held back a little by back QB play, but Watkins showed off his special ability when the ball is in his hands.


Watkins vs. Virginia

  • Runs right by CB for easy deep TD
  • Gets out of his break nicely on slant, but lets the ball get into him & allows CB to defelct it
  • Bad ball on interception, but does a poor job high pointing ball and breaking it up
  • Very Explosive off LOS. Top end speed in a matter of steps
  • Nice job of working back to the ball for catch
  • CB bites on inside seam route, leaves Watkins wide open for 90+ TD
Only ran a few different type of routes, slant/vertical/curl. Everything else was bubbles. Still can see his elite explosiveness. Wasn't really challenged this game.


Watkins vs. Maryland

  • Nice cut on Bubble 
  • High points ball nicely on errant bubble, makes LB miss downfield for 1st down
  • Wow play-catches high bubble, runs over DB, big gain.
  • Catches slant over middle with hands knowing he's going to get hit
  • Does great job of catching the ball and immediately getting upfield
  • Fumbles fighting for extra yards.
Another game where he was featured running lots of bubbles. He did run more drags/digs this game. Ended up with 14 catches, really maximizes what the play can be every-time he touches the ball.


Watkins vs. NC State

  • Runs a nice comeback route & creates separation. Waits on the ball, though.
  • Caught 3-4 bubbles in a row. Just extended running plays to get him the ball
  • Does nice job of sitting in zone on a spot route
  • Gets behind D on a PA pass, is overthrown. Should've been an easy TD
  • Excellent deep out route where he sells the in, and turns CB around. 
  • Fails to come back to the ball again, CB breaks up pass.
  • Makes a great catch on a 5 yard out route reaching behind him.
  • True hands catcher.
Another solid game. Ends up 10 catches, little worried about him not coming back to the ball. This seems like it could be a habit because of the limited routes other than bubble screens.



Watkins vs. FSU

  • Catches swing pass out of the backfield and makes safety miss in open field.
  • Settles down in zone, under-thrown, uncatchable 
  • Catches quick slant out of slot & makes safety miss
  • Makes great catch along sideline. Contested & gets his feet down. Was 3rd & 10
  • Drop. Didn't get his head around quick enough on flat route out of the backfield
Ended up with 8 catches, but was really held in check. Not the usual screen involvement like usual. Was more spot routes than usual and shovel passes. All in all didn't have much of an impact after 1st few series.

Watkins vs. USCe

  • Shows acceleration and good inside release on deep ball. Makes safety miss, then another DB miss downfield
  • Turns 1 yard gain into a 10 yard gain. Just short of 1st down.
  • "Drop" on a package play where he was the bubble. QB threw it high and outside.
  • Twice now he's failed to come back to the ball.
  • Very willing blocker.
Not very many vertical routes other than the 57 yard play. Lots of flat routes and underneath plays not until the last couple drives when they were down 31-17.


That was the drop where he failed to come back


Watkins vs. Wake Forest

  • Runs a curl and go, sells it just enough where the CB bites on the ball. Is able to fight off CB, who ran into him, for 64 yard TD.
  • Was open early for an easy TD in the red zone. QB throws it late, then throws it inside to where the safety can get it. Incomplete.
  • Has been open on a few routes now, just not being targeted.
  • Catches bubble screen, makes 1st 2 players miss for gain of 9. 
  • Draws DPI again in similar situation where he knows he can't catch the ball.
  • Slant out of slot, runs nice route, looks back on time, and makes safety miss to gain extra 10+ yards after.
  • Really like Watkins as a blocker.
  • 12:45 left in 3rd QTR, waits on ball, CB deflects it. Easy catch if he works back to the ball.
This was a very good game for Watkins, even though he wasn't being targeted, he was open. Very active blocker and makes people miss effortlessly. Still issues with coming back to the ball.



Watkins vs. Georgia Tech

  • Covered on Deep route
  • QB sacked, but Watkins' burst off the line was fantastic
  • Gets away with push off, but long TD stands
  • Nice cutblock on screen and shows off his ridiculous speed for TD. Breaks Angles.
  • Nice cut block on the bubble screen
Clemson ran the ball a little more this game. Again, Watkins did a great job of maximizing every chance he gets. Either turns screen plays that could go for a couple yards to 7-8 yards, or as evidenced in this game, can break them for 40+ yard touchdowns. As usual, showed off his vertical speed.


Grade

For any 1st time readers, grade can be fully explained here.


Multiple Pro Bowl Player, Top 10  8.5 – 9.0
Highly Productive Starter, 1st Round  8.0 – 8.4
Very Good Starter, Early 2nd Round  7.8 – 7.9
Reliable Starter, 2nd Round  7.5 – 7.7
Potential Starter in Year 2, 3rd Round  7.0 – 7.4
Backup/Spot Starter, 4th Round  6.5 – 6.9
Productive Backup, 5th Round  6.0 – 6.4
Very Good Backup/STs, 6th Round  5.5 – 5.9
Quality Backup/Good STs, 7th Round  5.0 – 5.4
Backup/STs/Project Player, 7th Round  4.5 – 4.9
Priority Free Agent w/ Limitations  4.0 – 4.4
Non-Draftable    < 4.0


Trait Weight Grade
Route Running 4 3.5
Speed 2.5 2.5
Hands 3 2.8
Ball Skills 3 2.6
YAC Ability 2 2
Effort 2 2
Blocking 2 2
Toughness 2 2
Awareness 2.5 2.4
Athleticism  2 2
Grade

My grade for Watkins is an 8.5. He's a very skilled player. Think he can succeed inside and outside and is a terror once the ball is in his hands. He does have issues with coming back to the ball, and isn't an advanced route runner at this point. Will need to improve on that in the NFL, but everything points to him being successful for a long time when you combine his speed, strong hands, and overall athleticism. 

Player Comparison

He's a spitting image of Torrey Smith, but not as raw as Smith was when he came out. They are the same in explosiveness, as Watkins should run low 4.4's at worst, and a great pro agility time. But like Smith, Watkins will need to refine his route running skills. The comparison isn't perfect, because Watkins has much better hands at this point than Smith, and has very good awareness for a player that runs a limited route tree. If Watkins works at it like I think he will, he'll become the next Roddy White as a route runner. So Torrey Smith type explosiveness with potential Roddy White route running skills.


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