Round 2 Pick 34; Christian Watson, WR, NDSU

[gopackgo972]

[Brat&Beer]

Gute said he was surprised Wyatt was available at 28. If Wyatt had not been available, would Watson have been the pick? Or somebody else? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Norm]

12 minutes ago, Brat&Beer said:

Gute said he was surprised Wyatt was available at 28. If Wyatt had not been available, would Watson have been the pick? Or somebody else? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hey yo I owe you money. PM me brah

[ThatJerkDave]

35 minutes ago, Brat&Beer said:

Gute said he was surprised Wyatt was available at 28. If Wyatt had not been available, would Watson have been the pick? Or somebody else? Inquiring minds want to know.

Have to think that was the case.  The not so secret story is that they were trying to package the same deal for pick 32 to the Vikings.  Between Wyatt and Watson, the picks were Cole Strange, George Karlaftis, Daxton Hill, Lewis Cine, and Logan Hall.  Wyatt probably eliminates Hall from consideration.  They took a number of OL later in the draft, as the Packers are like to do, which also probably eliminates Strange.  Karlaftis was intriguing, but there are two very good starters in place and they addressed the position later as well.  I thought that Safety would be a possibility, but really only because of future cap ramifications of attempting to keep both safeties that we currently have.  Then they still make the trade to 34 despite the players off the board between picks.  Watson was their guy.

[craig]

8 hours ago, ThatJerkDave said:

... they were trying to package the same deal for pick 32 .....  Then they still make the trade to 34 despite the players off the board between picks.  Watson was their guy.

I thought Gute's phrasing was to the effect that they'd had conversations with teams prior to pick 34, but that they didn't work out. 

• I infer that Gute had been offering the same two 2nd-round picks (in order to get Watson) earlier.  Probably for 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.  (Probably for pick 27 also). 
• Given that Gute valued Watson above the two picks, it seems obviously logical that he'd have been willing to pay that same price for 29-33.  More than willing; he'd obviously have preferred to get that extra year of control for a 1st-rounder.
• But the sellers weren't selling.  
• I conclude from this that whatever one might argue about the trade charts and whether or not Gute overpaid, that in fact for this particular season's market that Gute did NOT overpay relative to the actual market.  It appears to me to have been pure market pricing. 
• Teams at 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33, NONE of them preferred the two late 2nds.  So Gute's preference for the higher pick over the two 2nds was not flukish and bizarre; it was shared by a string of other teams as well.  

Had Wyatt NOT been there, of course somebody else who was drafted before him would then have been available.  Perhaps Gute would have loved that other guy as much or more than either Wyatt or Watson, who knows?  

 

[NFLGURU]

10 hours ago, Brat&Beer said:

Gute said he was surprised Wyatt was available at 28. If Wyatt had not been available, would Watson have been the pick? Or somebody else? Inquiring minds want to know.

Heard Wyatt's off the field stuff had some teams concerned and was off some teams boards.  Pack felt is was worth the risk, and it might be a pretty good pick if it pans out. 

[Jaire_Island]

Watson is Jordy Nelson with a bit more speed and agility. 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Jaire_Island

[CWood21]

11 hours ago, Brat&Beer said:

Gute said he was surprised Wyatt was available at 28. If Wyatt had not been available, would Watson have been the pick? Or somebody else? Inquiring minds want to know.

Possibly.  Given how quickly they picked Wyatt (I think they had something like 8.5 minutes left on the clock when the pick was submitted), I think it was safe to say he was the highest graded player left.  Watson might have been one of the other few guys left on that tier.

[JordanLoveFTW]

Based on what he did at NDSU, I picture him working 4 main routes from the outside. 
 

His bread and butter is the go route where he uses that explosiveness to blow by guys. 
 

Off of that, he’s shown a few successful change ups. 
 

He’ll run that stop route that’s so effective for him because of the speed threat. He’ll run a deep post because it’s another vertical route in his arsenal, and he’ll get back shoulders. 
 

I think he can do quite a bit of damage just using the go-to routes that he used at NDSU. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by JordanLoveFTW

[vegas492]

On 5/13/2022 at 4:51 PM, squire12 said:

Senior Bowl 1 on 1

 

Wins on

in breaking route

Comeback

In breaking route

Back shoulder

Out breaking route

Stutter and go

Out breaking route

in breaking route

in breaking route

You found the clips that I was looking for.  I was watching them and was like....

[vegas492]

13 hours ago, JordanLoveFTW said:

Based on what he did at NDSU, I picture him working 4 main routes from the outside. 
 

His bread and butter is the go route where he uses that explosiveness to blow by guys. 
 

Off of that, he’s shown a few successful change ups. 
 

He’ll run that stop route that’s so effective for him because of the speed threat. He’ll run a deep post because it’s another vertical route in his arsenal, and he’ll get back shoulders. 
 

I think he can do quite a bit of damage just using the go-to routes that he used at NDSU. 

I think you can throw his college stuff out the window.

This is a kid that can block.  Our offense requires it.  And it will mimic run to pass.

If MLF can't come up with schemed plays to get this kid the ball, it's on him.  Because the physical traits are there.

Let's not complicate this for the rookie with any reading of defenses.  Just run the route and be where you are supposed to be.

[JordanLoveFTW]

I think Watson is going to be our #1 receiving yards WR in 2022. 

First, I don’t think Lazard, Cobb of Watkins are big yards guys. 

Second, I don’t think he’s that raw. He’s a 23 year old rookie who played four full years of college football who comes from a football family. He might be limited in the routes he wins on, but that’s not the same as raw. It’s just that he does some things better than others and profiles as a guy with big strengths and obvious weaknesses (see Michael Thomas, MVS, Tyreek Hill, and any other number of quality receivers who have strengths and weaknesses.)

We’re lacking weapons at WR and TE. We have two good running backs and an OL that should be much improved. I think we’re going to see a run heavy offense in 2022. 
 

That fits perfectly into Watson’s skillset. A heavy run game with some vertical lean is good for Watson. That’s what he had at NDSU. It opens up those go routes and deep posts. And those go routes and deep posts open up the underneath comebacks and curls. 
 

800 yards for Watson in year 1. A huge year for Jones and Dillon. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by JordanLoveFTW

[TheEagle]

That's where I'm at. He's not going to be Chase or Jefferson, but he should be better than MVS in his first year. He has enough going for him to be a big play and gadget guy. He's not one dimenstional, but he'll round out his game as he gets more NFL experience.

[JordanLoveFTW]

3 hours ago, TheEagle said:

That's where I'm at. He's not going to be Chase or Jefferson, but he should be better than MVS in his first year. He has enough going for him to be a big play and gadget guy. He's not one dimenstional, but he'll round out his game as he gets more NFL experience.

He had a killer come back route and curl route at NDSU. I see no reason that won’t translate. So vertical PLUS comebacks with YAC PLUS gadget stuff. He’s got a nice little arsenal to unpack in the league. 
 

I doubt he’s ever gonna be much on slants, digs or outs, but he’s got a bag of tricks that can translate as a vertical PLUS weapon. 

Edited May 17, 2022 by JordanLoveFTW

[Packerraymond]

4 minutes ago, JordanLoveFTW said:

He had a killer come back route and curl route at NDSU. I see no reason that won’t translate. So vertical PLUS comebacks with YAC PLUS gadget stuff. He’s got a nice little arsenal to unpack in the league. 
 

I doubt he’s ever gonna be much on slants, digs or outs, but he’s got a bag of tricks that can translate as a vertical PLUS weapon. 

Speed guys always kill on slants. Cant play them in press with many DB's or they get burned, off coverage means easy slant completions. Metcalf (who's massively limited in breaking routes due to lower body flexibility) showcases this all the time.