Round 2 Pick 34; Christian Watson, WR, NDSU

[skibrett15]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:14 PM, TheEagle said:

I think people need to temper any Deebo comparisons. Yes, you can run him on jet motions because he’s fast and has great spatial awareness. He’s not Deebo. You can’t put him at RB. He’s just not that strong. He’s a make you miss or run around you type. He won’t break a lot of tackles. Javon Walker with less contested ball skills and more RAC potential.

This guy is closer to Randy Moss than Deebo Samuel lol.

[skibrett15]

I think people are overlooking that he has bad hands.

Like, MVS hands.

[Norm]

21 minutes ago, skibrett15 said:

I think people are overlooking that he has bad hands.

Like, MVS hands.

I'm not convinced this is true I guess

[Packerraymond]

27 minutes ago, skibrett15 said:

I think people are overlooking that he has bad hands.

Like, MVS hands.

He looks comfortable and is a hands catcher, MVS never looked comfortable tracking it in. Watson has the James Jones/Davante concentration drops IMO.

[skibrett15]

8 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

MVS never looked comfortable tracking it in

good point, MVS was bad deep ball catcher, Watson looks a lot better.

 

But I'm not sure from what I've watched that he's a good hands catcher like Davante.

[Packerraymond]

Just now, skibrett15 said:

good point, MVS was bad deep ball catcher, Watson looks a lot better.

 

But I'm not sure from what I've watched that he's a good hands catcher like Davante.

Davante the best receiver in the NFL or Davante year 2 in the NFL? Cause I would totally agree he's nowhere near Davante now. Davante back in 2015? I don't think there's a big difference there.

 

[skibrett15]

12 minutes ago, Packerraymond said:

Davante the best receiver in the NFL or Davante year 2 in the NFL? Cause I would totally agree he's nowhere near Davante now. Davante back in 2015? I don't think there's a big difference there.

 

Davante out of college.  I had no real hands issue with him TBH, it seemed to crop up IN the NFL.

 

He was making tons of hands catches on contested balls from Carr

[vegas492]

I think Watson's "drops" are exaggerated.  Like some of the drops counted were just flat out tough catches.  But a few were not.

I put out there like this.  He wasn't used very much.  It could very well be that he over attacked the ball when he had opportunity, or he was looking to take it to the house before securing the catch.  And that is because he had limited opportunities.

From what I saw he's a hands catcher all day long.  He really attacks the ball in the air.  It isn't like he's a body catcher or unsure of anything.

We can coach that drop tendency (if there is one) better than someone like MVS who never really looked comfortable looking the ball in.

[Lodestar]

Yeah I remember watching MVS's college highlights and thinking "That dude can fly, but man he basket catches everything." I actually thought it was a special teams pick. Watson looks nothing like him.

[NFLGURU]

My concerns are in the contested catches.  He isn't going to be wide open all the time like he was against K-Mart University.  He has a very high drop rate, what happens against NFL DBs that are on his hip?

I think you can scheme this kid into being a star by running short crossing routes designed for him and let him do his thing.  It will be interesting to see what MLF cooks up for him and how he is used.     

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by NFLGURU

[TheEagle]

Doubs actually has a worse habit of catching balls with his body. Watson almost always tries to catch with his hands. I have no problem with that. I think he'll catch the ball fine. He's not very good in contested catch situations though (lack of strength). He'll need to learn to attack the ball more in those situations. I don't think he'll ever be great at it, but with his speed it's less important for him to have. A guy like Drake London has to be able to catch well in contested catch situations.

[TheEagle]

10 minutes ago, NFLGURU said:

My concerns are in the contested catches.  He isn't going to be wide open all the time like he was against K-Mart University.  He has a very high drop rate, what happens against NFL DBs that are on his hip?

With his speed and ability to create separation, it might not be as important as you think. It's more important for guys like Davante and Drake London--who don't have deep speed. Think of MVS. If he had a little better hands and much better ball tracking ability, he could have been a really good NFL WR--even without the separation and YAC skills that Watson possesses. MVS rarely was in contested catch situations--which is good because he almost never won in contested catch situations.

I don't remember seeing Chris Olave winning a lot of contested catches on the tape I watched. That doesn't mean he can't be a good NFL WR. Same with Jameson Williams--although I might be misrembering that. And Watson does have some contested catches on his tape. If he gets a little stronger, I think he can be decent at it. He'll never be Drake London or Mike Evans.

Edited May 5, 2022 by TheEagle

[PossibleCabbage]

Does Rodgers even throw contested passes?

[PackFan13]

11 hours ago, skibrett15 said:

I think people are overlooking that he has bad hands.

Like, MVS hands.

The percentage is inflated because the team rarely threw the ball so his targets were rather low. Willing blocker that didn't complain about rarely getting the ball. The kid is lightning in a bottle and I can't wait to see him progress.  

[Gopackgonerd]

So I went through all the "drops" I could find in Watson's film and what I come away with is pretty much what people are saying in this thread, a lot of it is "Concentration drops" It definitely isn't a "hands are bad" issue imo. He definitely is a hands catcher in the majority of his tape. He is able to pluck passes pretty well out of the air.

There's also some bad balls by the QB, but I wouldn't say they aren't "catchable"

Here's timestamps of some of the "drops" from his tape I could find on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxYldcvEaH0&t=45s

First one I wouldn't put on him too much because it is airmailed a little bit by the QB. He might of got a little skinny with his hands there late. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAw-bB1wvEg&t=161s

I feel like this might be the only legit drop he had  out of these. I don't think it's that bad of a ball watching it over, felt like he got too skinny there and tried to fingertip catch that ball. Perhaps thought he had it. So kind of a hands/concentration drop here.

https://youtu.be/fL6gYD9MoeM?t=169

I wish they gave a replay of this one , but it looks like it bounces off his hands, could consider this another concentration drop. Just didn't time it up with his hands and looked up the field before he secured it. Perhaps a tad to high by the QB as well.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HslntLUvy-o&t=4429s

This one wasn't an easy catch by any means, kind of slipped out of his outstretched hands and hit the ground awkwardly. Hard to knock him too much here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj6LesJgm28&t=1766s

The angle was weird with this one, hard to tell if it hits him in the facemask or it barely is out of his reach. QB definitely didn't do him favors here. 

https://youtu.be/hj6LesJgm28?t=5154

Angle was odd on this one too, could of been overthrown a bit, also CB was tugging on his jersey and swatted his other arm. 

 

Overall do I see a guy with drop problems? Not really.  None of them are so embarrassingly bad or that concerning to me. 

Just needs to secure some of these catches all the way through. Some felt like it was more timing with his hands than anything.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Gopackgonerd