How Watkins’ emergence gives Eagles options in free agency and draft

[time2rock]

How Watkins’ emergence gives Eagles options in free agency and draft

 

The Eagles would be foolish to think they’re set at the wide receiver position.

Because they’re not.

And, to be fair, the Eagles know they’re not. They still have to add in either free agency or the draft or both. But what has become clear over the last couple months is just how much they value Quez Watkins.

Whenever they talk about the position, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni can’t help but praise the 2020 sixth-round pick.

At the combine last week, when asked to name a receiver outside of DeVonta Smith he sees taking a step forward in 2022, Roseman didn’t hesitate to say Watkins.

"Well, when you look at Quez, I think Quez had a heck of a year, really, when you look at him and really transitioning to a position he didn't play in college as a slot receiver,” Roseman said. "The guy is extremely talented, extremely hardworking.”

The Eagles can’t just look at Smith and Watkins and say they’re good at the receiver position — largely because Jalen Reagor has been a bust so far — but Watkins’ emergence and versatility should give the Eagles options this offseason as they look to add another receiver or two.

Maybe Watkins can’t be the Eagles’ true No. 2 receiver long-term but he played mostly outside in college and in his rookie season and then he played primarily in the slot in Year 2. And he played well in 2021.

As a sixth-round rookie in 2020, Watkins played 91 snaps out wide and 25 in the slot, according to ProFootballFocus. In his second season, Watkins played 571 from the slot and 235 out wide.

So why does this matter to the Eagles?

Well, because the Eagles believe in and trust Watkins no matter where he plays. So as they look to receivers in free agency and the draft, they can simply add the best one that fits their offense, regardless of position. Because they can plug-and-play Watkins at the spot left over.

That’s a nice little advantage in the offseason.

Because, say, an outside receiver like Allen Robinson ends up way out of the Eagles’ price range, which seems entirely possible. Then the Eagles can change courses and try to sign a slot receiver like JuJu Smith-Schuster, who is younger and likely cheaper.

Or think back to the 2020 draft, when the Eagles felt like they had to prioritize outside explosion and they took Reagor in the first round over future star Justin Jefferson, whom they wrongly thought was a slot-only option. If the Eagles entered that draft feeling like they had more flexibility, then they might not have made a terrible error.

Unless the Eagles completely revamp the position aside from Smith — which doesn’t seem very likely — the Eagles will be playing Watkins somewhere next season. At every turn, Sirianni has praised the former sixth-rounder out of Southern Miss.

"He has big-time speed, and he has a knack to make plays,” Sirianni said in January, when he called Watkins their No. 2. "Of course, you always want to get – the style of offense that we played this year didn't allow for Quez to get as many touches as he probably deserves, but we did everything we could do to win each individual game.

"So, Quez has big-play ability in him. I think out of the No. 2 wide-outs I've been around in the NFL, he can be one of the best No. 2’s that I've been around in the NFL because of his skill set and because of his ability to make plays.”

Sure, Watkins still has plenty of room for growth; he was far from a perfect player in 2021. But in an offense that didn’t feature him and one that became a run-first attack, Watkins still managed to have 43 catches for 647 yards and a touchdown in his second NFL season. Forget his draft status, that’s a decent season no matter who has it.

His 647 yards rank 10th among Eagles’ receivers in Year 2 since the merger in 1970. It was a pretty impressive season and there are plenty of reasons to think Watkins will continue to get better.

We’ll find out soon enough which position he’ll play in 2022. But the fact that the Eagles think he can play either should make things a little easier on them this offseason.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/quez-watkins-emergence-versatility-eagles-free-agency-draft

[UK_EaglesFan89]

He's good, he's a very good #3 but he's not a very good #2 and that is what this team is missing. I like Watkins, I like what he brings to this team and over 600 yards was a good return but 91 of those yards came on one play. Doesn't mean you can't give him huge credit for that play but it just shows that he's not a go to type guy. 

[time2rock]

12 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

He's good, he's a very good #3 but he's not a very good #2 and that is what this team is missing. I like Watkins, I like what he brings to this team and over 600 yards was a good return but 91 of those yards came on one play. Doesn't mean you can't give him huge credit for that play but it just shows that he's not a go to type guy. 

He also just missed connecting on a couple other deep throws.  Whether that was on him or the QB for under/over throwing him but he could have really padded those receiving stats even more had they connected on those.