Quez Watkins

[EazyEaglez]

16 hours ago, Ace Nova said:

Yep.

Watkins himself took accountability after the game and basically said that he had "regressed" this past season.  That alone could bode well for his future development. 

That said, it's also the coaching staff's responsibility to put players in positions to succeed.  Watkins isn't a "slot receiver".  He's not a guy you want going up the middle, making contested catches.  That's not his strength. 

I'm hoping they design better plays for him - many of which he had plenty of success in college - deeper slants, outs, etc.  Those are the types of plays I envision him to be better at.  Once he gets into a rhythm and his confidence level increases, then maybe start developing his shorter, inside game.  But let the guy be successful at his strengths first. 

 

For example, look at the deep curl he runs here at 1:10.  And then the intermediate "stop and go" route at 2:40:

 

Those are the type of plays we should be feeding him, imo. 

At this point I’m not really sure what Watkins strength is as a receiver. He’s poor on stop start screens, because he lacks elusiveness and the ability to make defenders miss which is why he’s also a terrible return man. He doesn’t like contact so short to intermediate slot routes he’s likely to stop his route to avoid a hit or give up the ball on a contested catch. He’s not good on the outside either, because on a simple curl route against the last regular season game against the Giants, Hurts threw him the ball and he just stopped moving. The defender came in and broke the play up and almost intercepted the pass. Had Watkins kept moving it’s an easy catch, but he lacks basic fundamentals. This is also baffling considering the HC has made it abundantly clear that wide receivers are his specialty. Why has Watkins regressed to this point of a player who basically has no position? I don’t get it either, but it’s pretty obvious the Eagles also saw that Watkins had regressed as Pascal seemed to play a lot more in the end of the season than he was earlier.

[MF POON]

2 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

At this point I’m not really sure what Watkins strength is as a receiver. He’s poor on stop start screens, because he lacks elusiveness and the ability to make defenders miss which is why he’s also a terrible return man. He doesn’t like contact so short to intermediate slot routes he’s likely to stop his route to avoid a hit or give up the ball on a contested catch. He’s not good on the outside either, because on a simple curl route against the last regular season game against the Giants, Hurts threw him the ball and he just stopped moving. The defender came in and broke the play up and almost intercepted the pass. Had Watkins kept moving it’s an easy catch, but he lacks basic fundamentals. This is also baffling considering the HC has made it abundantly clear that wide receivers are his specialty. Why has Watkins regressed to this point of a player who basically has no position? I don’t get it either, but it’s pretty obvious the Eagles also saw that Watkins had regressed as Pascal seemed to play a lot more in the end of the season than he was earlier.

He's just really awful at route running, which is pretty sad considering his speed. Even the one route he is somewhat OK at running he botched in the SB, lol.  I'd be surprised if he's even on the roster next season, as I expect him to get cut during camp.

[Vee]

Quez Watkins, at this point, is purely a fly route decoy.

 

He's there to make sure the defense has to stay deep.  As soon as they cheat up, he'll get a ball thrown his way, which he'll catch more often than not....

It's important to have that guy on a team.  Without that threat, it allows opposing defenses to complicate things for the offense.

[GoEagles614]

4 hours ago, Vee said:

Quez Watkins, at this point, is purely a fly route decoy.

 

He's there to make sure the defense has to stay deep.  As soon as they cheat up, he'll get a ball thrown his way, which he'll catch more often than not....

It's important to have that guy on a team.  Without that threat, it allows opposing defenses to complicate things for the offense.

We have them, their names are AJ Brown and Devonta Smith. He doesn’t catch the ball more often than not on deep balls, contested catches, and doesn’t fight towards the ball/through defender to win his rep with a catch/flag. He lets the ball come to him and is easily dislodged from his hands. 
 

There are plenty of fast players in the NFL, plenty have failed because that’s not enough. 
 

Pascal averages a yard more per target and only .5 yards less per touch. .7 yards less per catch. He’s a much better blocker, plays special teams, and is more physical at the catch point. He’s a chain mover which is more of what we need. 
 

Just lazily playing with stats, if you give Pascal the amount of targets Quez got, he’s giving you ~50 more yards and 7 more completions. Of his 19 targets he reeled in 15. That’s a 78% completion % to Quez’s 64%  I think Devonta and Brown are the deep threats we need, I’d just like someone else at the WR to work the slot and be a reliable pitch and catch guy, not a Hail Mary Chuck and pray guy who doesn’t run routes well and doesn’t have great hands. 

[EazyEaglez]

I can think of two big plays Quez had this year, but I can think of 4 really horrible plays connected to Quez this year and three of them led to turnovers. Time to find another option. 

[EazyEaglez]

"Outside of Jalen Hurts and Darius Slay, Quez Watkins provides the biggest amount of salary-cap relief if he gets cut. The Eagles would be saving $2.7 million by releasing him.

Obviously cutting the first two is out of the question. Hurts is in line for a massive extension, while Slay is too important to the defense to consider parting ways with him just to clear cap space.

Watkins is a talented player, but he hasn't done enough to take cutting him off the table. In fact, with A.J. Brown now leading the receiving corps, Watkins had fewer targets, receptions, yards and snaps than he did in 2021.

Entering his third year, he's proved that he can be a reliable third receiver. The problem is that his salary jumps from $895,000 in 2022 to $2.7 million in 2023.”

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10065661-players-eagles-must-consider-cutting-ahead-of-2023-nfl-free-agency
 

Sorry I don’t think Quez is worth the bump in pay. 

[brkmsn]

We unloaded Torrey Smith (via trade) after the Super Bowl to free up a little cap space. That worked out well ...

[EazyEaglez]

19 hours ago, brkmsn said:

We unloaded Torrey Smith (via trade) after the Super Bowl to free up a little cap space. That worked out well ...

Most people were killing Torrey Smith when he left, but that’s not quite relevant here. The Eagles have a cemented number one and two guy. Watkins is more of a penciled in number three. The Eagles shouldn’t be scared to move on from a guy who caught a deep pass then immediately fumbled sealing a loss, because they’re afraid of the ghosts of Smith. 

[brkmsn]

14 minutes ago, EazyEaglez said:

Most people were killing Torrey Smith when he left, but that’s not quite relevant here. The Eagles have a cemented number one and two guy. Watkins is more of a penciled in number three. The Eagles shouldn’t be scared to move on from a guy who caught a deep pass then immediately fumbled sealing a loss, because they’re afraid of the ghosts of Smith. 

Quez also did things to help this team win games. I know it's easier to remember the mistakes. If you have time, take a look at This site for a lot of advanced metrics. It's interesting to compare his 2021 season to the 2022 season. Like I mentioned before, definitely bring in competition, but I wouldn't quit on Watkins yet. I want to see how he responds to what he admits was a disappointing year from him. I know you mentioned his salary earlier, but that is chump change --- especially if he shows improvement in 2023. 

For now, like Reagor and JJAW before him, he's under contract and familiar with the team. There's no reason to give up on him before training camp / preseason, etc...

[EazyEaglez]

25 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Quez also did things to help this team win games. I know it's easier to remember the mistakes. If you have time, take a look at This site for a lot of advanced metrics. It's interesting to compare his 2021 season to the 2022 season. Like I mentioned before, definitely bring in competition, but I wouldn't quit on Watkins yet. I want to see how he responds to what he admits was a disappointing year from him. I know you mentioned his salary earlier, but that is chump change --- especially if he shows improvement in 2023. 

For now, like Reagor and JJAW before him, he's under contract and familiar with the team. There's no reason to give up on him before training camp / preseason, etc...

I don’t think the Eagles need speed from their 3rd WR. They need reliability like Avant was for them years ago. They need someone they can count on to get a 1st down between all the bodies and not someone who is scared to take a hit or whose arms aren’t strong enough to hold onto the ball during a contested catch. When it comes to Quez he needs to become far more reliable and more versatile. He doesn’t bring enough to the table for his price tag. Bring him to camp, but definitely have some competition again. He’s not good enough to be considered a lock or really even a loss if he’s cut. 
 

"Watkins had three drops in the regular season and the QB passer rating on throws targeting him was 80.0. That’s lower than the rating throwing the ball to Dallas Goedert, A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, Jack Stoll, Zach Pascaland Grant Calcaterra.”
 

https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-quez-watkins-ready-disappointing-111800584.html

Simply can’t have this out of our 3rd WR option. I think he needs to bulk up some if he wants to stay in the NFL and bring down those contested catches, although Smitty does it despite his size. 
 

[Devaster]

Fans need to stop defining roles for a receiver on the team based on past experience/success and try to fit round pegs into square holes. Just need reliable guys that do their job well. If they aren't doing their job well then next man up. Anyone can catch passes over the middle of run deep routes. NFL players are all fast at the receiver position. There aren't a ton of guys that can fly and catch the ball like Tyreek or a young DJax.

Quez can get open, but he doesn't have the concentration or skills to haul in critical catches when asked to step up. Can't have that. When a depth chart guy gets an opportunity they can't squander it.

[EazyEaglez]

On 2/18/2023 at 1:00 AM, brkmsn said:

We unloaded Torrey Smith (via trade) after the Super Bowl to free up a little cap space. That worked out well ...

On a side note this analogy is like those people saying that the Eagles shouldn’t sign Hurts to a long term deal, because Wentz got hurt a lot. Teams can not function operating under that type of fear.

[brkmsn]

8 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

On a side note this analogy is like those people saying that the Eagles shouldn’t sign Hurts to a long term deal, because Wentz got hurt a lot. Teams can not function operating under that type of fear.

Likewise, people giving up on a young player (that showed promise)  after a few bad plays is like those that gave up on Hurts when he didn't start off looking like a top 10 QB from day 1. The interesting thing about the Eagles is their leader. Every young player on this team that wants to succeed has an example to emulate in what it takes to improve in deficient areas. Watkins will have an opportunity to work on those things that are below par. Watkins also has two teammates at his position that he can learn a lot from. 

 

This is the beginning of the offseason and we know what to expect around here. Players won't be able to actually prove themselves for the next 6 months. When searching the web for Eagles content, I'm sure all the hack contributors will pencil Watkins in on their "5 players the Eagles should move on from," or "5 players that the Eagles should cut immediately," or "5 moves the Eagles can make to create cap space," etc... But, I'm actually pretty confident that Watkins will rebound. 

[EazyEaglez]

54 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Likewise, people giving up on a young player (that showed promise)  after a few bad plays is like those that gave up on Hurts when he didn't start off looking like a top 10 QB from day 1. The interesting thing about the Eagles is their leader. Every young player on this team that wants to succeed has an example to emulate in what it takes to improve in deficient areas. Watkins will have an opportunity to work on those things that are below par. Watkins also has two teammates at his position that he can learn a lot from. 

 

This is the beginning of the offseason and we know what to expect around here. Players won't be able to actually prove themselves for the next 6 months. When searching the web for Eagles content, I'm sure all the hack contributors will pencil Watkins in on their "5 players the Eagles should move on from," or "5 players that the Eagles should cut immediately," or "5 moves the Eagles can make to create cap space," etc... But, I'm actually pretty confident that Watkins will rebound. 

I respect that concept, and we both agree that they should bring in some competition. I’m just not as convinced as you are he will bounce baxk, because unlike Hurts he didn’t improve. He regressed and he only had one job, because he kept failing at everything else they tried to do with him. 

[EazyEaglez]

Even the mock drafts out there realize that Quez was a liability. 

[brkmsn]

5 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Even the mock drafts out there realize that Quez was a liability. 

I'm sure Talonblood has us picking a QB at 10 in his mock draft. 

[EazyEaglez]

1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

I'm sure Talonblood has us picking a QB at 10 in his mock draft. 

Can’t please everyone.

[EagleVA]

On 2/15/2023 at 4:24 PM, EazyEaglez said:

First and foremost the end of your comment is as dumb as they come and insulting for no reason whatsoever.

Question, if  poll were taken asking which NFL fan base has the greatest amount of hoodlums, who do you think would win with practically 100% of the vote? 

You see, being a hoodlum starts between the ears, it's a mindset, I can hear that that mindset in many of the posts that I read.

Here you can see that mindset materialized. 

 

 

[EazyEaglez]

2 hours ago, EagleVA said:

Question, if  poll were taken asking which NFL fan base has the greatest amount of hoodlums, who do you think would win with practically 100% of the vote? 

You see, being a hoodlum starts between the ears, it's a mindset, I can hear that that mindset in many of the posts that I read.

Here you can see that mindset materialized. 

 

 

Obviously in your very small world you don’t understand that this stuff happens all the time from idiot college kids throwing goal posts into rivers, to shootings after baseball games in LA, to riots overseas for soccer. I don’t care what the media says. Those dopes are still talking about Santa which is ridiculous. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

On 2/18/2023 at 12:39 AM, EazyEaglez said:

"Outside of Jalen Hurts and Darius Slay, Quez Watkins provides the biggest amount of salary-cap relief if he gets cut. The Eagles would be saving $2.7 million by releasing him.

Obviously cutting the first two is out of the question. Hurts is in line for a massive extension, while Slay is too important to the defense to consider parting ways with him just to clear cap space.

Watkins is a talented player, but he hasn't done enough to take cutting him off the table. In fact, with A.J. Brown now leading the receiving corps, Watkins had fewer targets, receptions, yards and snaps than he did in 2021.

Entering his third year, he's proved that he can be a reliable third receiver. The problem is that his salary jumps from $895,000 in 2022 to $2.7 million in 2023.”

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10065661-players-eagles-must-consider-cutting-ahead-of-2023-nfl-free-agency
 

Sorry I don’t think Quez is worth the bump in pay. 

There is no way the Eagles are paying Slay what he's due on his contract next season either, his cap number is ridiculous for a player who quite plainly tailed off last season and he's 32 which rules out a major restructure, and a short restructure won't work with other bills coming due.

[EazyEaglez]

15 minutes ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

There is no way the Eagles are paying Slay what he's due on his contract next season either, his cap number is ridiculous for a player who quite plainly tailed off last season and he's 32 which rules out a major restructure, and a short restructure won't work with other bills coming due.

Slay will either restructure or be cut. Can’t see the Eagles paying him either. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

2 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Slay will either restructure or be cut. Can’t see the Eagles paying him either. 

His contract as it stands would make him the highest paid Corner in the NFL next season, it's incredible that sites like BGN are saying there's no way he'll be let go.

[brkmsn]

53 minutes ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

His contract as it stands would make him the highest paid Corner in the NFL next season, it's incredible that sites like BGN are saying there's no way he'll be let go.

He won't be let go. He will be restructured to free up 2023 cap space. 

[Devaster]

4 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Obviously in your very small world you don’t understand that this stuff happens all the time from idiot college kids throwing goal posts into rivers, to shootings after baseball games in LA, to riots overseas for soccer. I don’t care what the media says. Those dopes are still talking about Santa which is ridiculous. 

Agreed. Every fanbase has its group of hoodlums. Fan is short for fanatic. The name came about for a reason.

[QBhunter58]

On 2/18/2023 at 8:46 PM, brkmsn said:

Quez also did things to help this team win games. I know it's easier to remember the mistakes. If you have time, take a look at This site for a lot of advanced metrics. It's interesting to compare his 2021 season to the 2022 season. Like I mentioned before, definitely bring in competition, but I wouldn't quit on Watkins yet. I want to see how he responds to what he admits was a disappointing year from him. I know you mentioned his salary earlier, but that is chump change --- especially if he shows improvement in 2023. 

For now, like Reagor and JJAW before him, he's under contract and familiar with the team. There's no reason to give up on him before training camp / preseason, etc...

This is kinda where I am at as well. Lets see what he does in camp for sure. I remember the amount of work he put in between year 1 and 2 was crazy, and it paid off. I do not remember any whispers, articles, or posts about him slaying it last offseason. I have a feeling he coasted a bit and it cost him, the regression was clear.