(That title sounded a lot better in my head)
Last year, Clemson produced a stand-out wide receiver prospect in DeAndre Hopkins, who went late in the 1st round to the Texans and had a very good rookie year, especially for a wide-out. This year, Clemson has yet another stand-out receiver prospect, and he’s pretty much a lock to go much higher than Hopkins did. That receiver would be none other than Sammy Watkins. Watkins was easily the biggest playmaker on the Clemson offense this past season, and they (rightfully) ran most of their offense through him. To be honest, I am not as high on Watkins as most others are, but he still has undeniable talent. Part of that may be due to limited tape, as the only good tape I could find of Watkins spanned two games, and the rest of my knowledge on him came from what I took away about him from watching Tajh Boyd’s tape. So, with that in mind, feel free to take this analysis with a grain of salt, but here I go.
Intangibles
Size for a wide receiver isn’t necessarily as important as it is for other positions, but it can determine what kind of wide receiver you can be. Watkins is 6’1″, 205 lbs, so he is big enough, in both height and weight, to play on the outside or in the slot. Basically, his size is not a limitation on him in any way, and his weight is pretty good for a college player of his height, and should give him an advantage against cornerbacks early in his career. His size is also not too big to be an effective threat as a runner, and Clemson sure knew it and ran the ball with him a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him reprise his role as a swiss-army knife kind of player with whatever team he ends up with, unless that team already has that kind of player (uh, did someone say Rams?).
As with everyone else, character is of course something to care about, and there are no negative reports about Watkins. He doesn’t seem like the diva receiver type, or at least not right now, those kinds of things can always change with time. Right now though, Watkins is 100% the kind of guy you want in your locker room.
Physical Skills
Watkins is a very fast player, and it shows by how Clemson used him. They would try to get him the ball in open space on a majority of their plays, whether it be kickoff/punt returns, screen passes, swing passes, end arounds, handoffs, or just a regular old crossing route, the more they could get Watkins to be one on one with a defender the better, it seemed. Not only is he fast in general, but Watkins has very good breakaway speed, and once he gets a couple steps on the last defender, he’s gone. If you don’t want him to take it to the house on you, your cornerback has to make the play or you have to have safeties deep up top. He is also a very athletic player and can jump up to go get the ball when it’s thrown high, and does a good job of coming down in bounds with the ball. When it comes to a receiver’s most important skill, their hands, Watkins is definitely up there, but he isn’t among the best. He will catch the balls that he should, and even make some difficult catches, but if he has to bail the quarterback out of a bad throw, he might be able to do it, but don’t count on it.
Blocking
A very underrated part of being a wide receiver at any level is being able to block, primarily in the running game. While an excellent receiver who can’t block at all can be hid by just running a go route on running plays, it is of course always a plus to have a talented receiver who can block. Watkins is good enough at run-blocking that he can be trusted to make blocks on a run-play, as opposed to just running downfield to take the cornerback out of the play. However, he isn’t an excellent run-blocker, and probably shouldn’t be expected to block linebackers or other similarly sized players. He is very good at following the proper blocking assignment, and will block the proper player instead of just blocking the guy lined up over him.
Technical skills
There are a lot of little things that receivers have to do right, and Watkins seems to do them quite well for the most part. One major one is route running. Now, if a receiver is extremely talented, like Watkins, they can get away with sub-par route running, but if not, well, that’s how you get Brandon LaFell. Watkins, however, is a very good route runner. He’s not perfect, but he doesn’t really round-off routes too much, and he’s always where he needs to be when the ball gets there. Also, general awareness of how the play is developing is key to being a good receiver, and Watkins does that very well, following a scrambling quarterback to the other side of the field in order to make the throw easier once he finishes running his route. Another key for receivers is the ability to run after the catch, and Watkins is not only fast, but he can break tackles. He has a very good stiff arm, and is quite adept at breaking tackles after the catch.
Summary
Watkins is pretty much the real deal and as good as advertised. He does pretty much everything well, but the only thing that really jumps out at you is his speed. Because nothing really jumps out, I’m hesitant to anoint him a surefire top 5 pick that a lot of others are ready to do, but I do feel comfortable saying that he will definitely be an early 1st round pick. Likely top 15 if not top 10. Watkins is the type of receiver that fits any team that isn’t 100% set at receiver, but there are more talented players at higher need positions at the top of the draft (Bridgewater, Clowney, Manziel, Bortles, Mack, etc.) who I feel will push him down the draft board a bit. Regardless of his ultimate draft position, Watkins is likely to have a very long and very successful NFL career.
Games used for this analysis: 2012 vs. Virginia Tech, 2013 vs. Georgia
(x/a)²+(x/b)²=1 