I never thought of him before like that but I think you're spot on. An Anquan Boldin who runs a 4.4 40 instead of a 4.7. The only knock on him is he doesn't have elite size, but he still should be a hell of a player. I'm 50/50 on the trade up--they didn't give up Julio Jones kind of picks, but they did get an elite prospect in a position of need. Still I'm very wary of big tradeups like this. And BOJ, I know in the scheme of things giving up a 4th round pick isn't the end of the world, but not caring about them is a bad attitude to have. If as a team you're not finding value in picks 4-7, I don't care how good your first 3 rounds go, you're not going to be a superbowl caliber team.
Yeah, he doesn't have elite height but I think he's going to be one of those guys that will far overcome the lack of height with extreme physicality. When folks use the term "beast" I don't think anyone fits that description better than Watkins. He'll create seperation with his speed and physicality and he'll out-muscle defenders for jump balls. And he runs through arm tackles. Again, I wouldn't have made such a trade for a non-QB but folks down on the player are shortchanging him. _
Prime Revis still make him his bitch like he did with T.O , Steve Smith , Ochocinco and list goes on.
Again you're spot on. I always thought he moved like a RB in space, and can punish a lot of DBs trying to take him down if he wants to. I wasn't so big of a believer in him (granted I never really followed Clemson), mostly because most of the passes to him were thrown behind the LOS. That was until I saw him in the Orange Bowl when he made this catch: He identifies the ball mid stride, high points the ball, and catches it cleanly over top of the defender. If he can do that in the NFL, he'll be a star. Worth the trade? Maybe, maybe not.
I'd say the cutoff is 6'2. Watkins is 6'0.5, small receivers are in the 5'10 to 6'1 range. Why would you disagree with this? Watkins is not that big red zone target type of receiver especially since his vertical ability is not good. His game is more like a possession type small receiver. I think Watkins is going to be a great player but I think he's a bit overrated. I don't think the folks down on him are shortchanging him at all. A really similar player is Torrey Smith who is slightly taller, slightly better agility, stronger on bench (if that means anything), and much better vertical (which is a big deal). Smith also had a great final season in college. Trading up into the top 5 to draft Torrey Smith would have been accepted as ludicrous. That's how I feel about this Watkins trade. He's 6'0.5 with poor leaping ability and NFL average 4.4 speed, it's not that far-fetched to think it's reckless for a team to expect him to be a franchise changing #1 receiver, especially when EJ Manuel is your QB. We'll see though!
If we're going to argue inconsequential differences there is no difference between 6' 2" and 6'1". Not 6'0.5. He was measured at the NFL COMBINE AT 6'-1" so your inconsequential measurement is just wrong. It's as if I said he's almost 6'-2". Which is as big as an over exaggeration. And if you think he's a "small" possession receiver I will submit, quite respectfully, that you have NEVER seen him play. He is the biggest 6'-1" receiver I've ever seen. Stop measuring 2 centimeters and start looking at the player. _
So it's inconsequential but that's the one thing from my posts that you choose to nitpick and argue about. LOL, Nice. You wanna get that technical, fine - he's 6'0.6 and it gets rounded up to 6'1 by everyone. Forgive me for calling him 6'0.5. Let me break this down for you, I said "small receiver", not "small person". For the ease of things I classify receivers as small or big. Sorry, I don't have an "almost big receiver" category and sorry I didn't bother to call it "more on the small side than big side for an NFL receiver". Watkins is not going to be a blazing downfield or heavy over the top big red zone guy. He's going to be a physical possession guy. If you don't think so then I will submit, also respectfully, that you don't know what you've been watching. Big receivers are Calvin Johnson, Vincent Jackson, Andre Johnson. All these guys are tall, big, and fast with great verticals. Watkins is measurably shorter, a few pounds lighter, has average speed, and has a below average vertical. He is much more like Reggie Wayne, Hakeem Nicks, or Pierre Garcon than any of the guys in Calvin Johnson territory. You totally missing the point of my posts. I said I think Watkins will be a great player. I am not hating on him as a player. He was a top of the class prospect. My issue is that he was overhyped and overdrafted. Is a Calvin Johnson-esque player worth a trade up into the top 5? Yes. Is a Pierre Garcon-esque player worth a trade up into the top 5? I don't think so. Is a Pierre Garcon-esque player worth a trade up into the top 5 when you're an 8-8 team with a dink and dunker of a QB? Hell No. Good luck to EJ getting the ball to his franchise WR when he's being double teamed by DB's that are on average the same height, weight, speed, and have better jumping ability. The Bills even reported that they tried to move up to number one overall to get Watkins - laughable. This trade is an example of why the Bills will continue to be perennially mediocre at best.
I guess that's where we differ. I don't pick two black and white categories when discussing a players physical attributes. Not with a guy like Watkins. I think you're equating tall with big, I don't. I equate physicality with big. Anquan Boldin, to me, is a big receiver. Same size as Watkins. Is Anquan Boldin a small receiver based on your criteria? Having said that, I wouldn't have made that trade but the guy is going to be a great player in this league. _
To be fair these guys are in that range where they could go either way. That 6'0-6'1, 210-220 lb range. They're either the biggest of the small receivers or the smallest of the big receivers. Watkins is a lot faster than Boldin but they both have poor verticals and play much more a possession receiver game than blowing the top off Randy Moss style so I lean towards putting them on the small receiver list.
For those that don't know, they better ask somebody! Sammy has been a beast in camp completely dominating and catching everything. In this article you can watch a gif of him stumbling on a sharp post route and still snatching the ball out of the air one handed. I'm calling it now. He'll be top 10 in yards and TD'S for all WR'S this year. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...bsurd-one-handed-catch-at-bills-training-camp
That was a poor route he ran. He's not going to gain any separation this year stumbling out of his breaks like that. Bust
Well then he'll just snag the ball while smothered in coverage when needed as well as he has already done several times http://www.buffalobills.com/video/v...ng_Catch/a8a836f5-f671-46d7-b44c-88cd801ab4b7
Let's not be silly. We all know Gilmore is twice the corner Milliner is and ever will be. But that's a mute point, when Sammy is snatching the ball out of the air while being piggy backed!
he's looked great in camp, yes. But is this really a surprise? The guy is a freak athlete, he was born for training camps. He's going to be good, but I don't know how much it will matter if the QB doesn't look good. Reports out of Bills camp aren't so positive regarding Manuel