Quez Watkins

[EagleVA]

21 hours ago, NOTW said:

 

 

No worries, it'll be the same stupid sheet where Hurts only looks for Brown, Smith, and Godert unless he's running for his life and they're out of their view.

Once again, I saw numerous plays last year where Hurts was forcing balls to Brown while Watkins was wide open right behind Brown on a deep slants.   On two of those instances the passes to Brown was incomplete.

Hurts/Siriani/Johnson can take the Eagles passing game to another level if they concentrate on reading the entire field instead of tunnel vision on the 3 receivers mentioned above.

[brkmsn]

3 hours ago, EagleVA said:

No worries, it'll be the same stupid sheet where Hurts only looks for Brown, Smith, and Godert unless he's running for his life and they're out of their view.

Once again, I saw numerous plays last year where Hurts was forcing balls to Brown while Watkins was wide open right behind Brown on a deep slants.   On two of those instances the passes to Brown was incomplete.

Hurts/Siriani/Johnson can take the Eagles passing game to another level if they concentrate on reading the entire field instead of tunnel vision on the 3 receivers mentioned above.

Watkins only has to play his role and play well. He played his role last season, but didn't always play well. If my theory has any merit and post-injury (non 100%) Watkins was more of a decoy, that might explain a couple plays you saw in the latter half of the season. The injury didn't prevent him from running well. It only affected his physicality, which unfortunately led to a couple big plays by opponents. 

There is no reason for Watkins to be targeted a whole lot more if Brown, Smith, and Goedert are all healthy. But if Watkins is playing like he can, his targets should go up to around 4 per game, minimum. If he's playing well, he'll be much more productive. If Watkins is healthy all year, I can see him with 700-800 yards receiving easy (which would be more than double last year's total. 

Hopefully the play-callers scrap a couple of those awful  screen plays to the slot WR that hurt us more than helped us the last couple seasons. I think part of the problem there was the emphasis (officiating) on where the offensive linemen were on those plays. Things that might have slid in practice were getting called in games and so a couple of those plays were doomed. 

Yes, it's always better to read the entire field, but when any of your first three most productive targets are open (or open enough), you don't need to hold the ball and check on #4's status. Of course, in most cases the QB is reacting to the coverage he reads and deciding where to go first. As for Hurts, he's still a very young QB, improving with experience. Last season, he was usually making the correct read. It's not crazy to think he'll get even better over time. 

This isn't about "favorites" like you seemingly believe. It's about winning games and hopefully championships. 

[EagleVA]

13 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

Yes, it's always better to read the entire field, but when any of your first three most productive targets are open (or open enough), you don't need to hold the ball and check on #4's status.

I heard somewhere earlier this week by some analytics guy that your probability dramatically increases depending on how many "chunk plays" you have, not sure how many yards gained define a chunk play but I believe it's true.

There should be circumstances that calls for play designs such that if you see this coverage by this defender your guy should be open for a chunk play, it's a simple read and a launch.

One thing I'm beginning to question is how strong is Hurts' arm, can he get the ball deep to a speedster like Watkins, I've seen numerous attempts to hit him deep and the ball was underthrown and Watkins came back to the ball making a great catch.

What really made me begin question his arm strength was several times he had time, did the crow hop, and heaved it with seemingly all his might......the ball traveled 50 yards in the air which would put him in last place in most NFL QB Challenge competitions, Randall once won it with a 76 yard heave.

 

[brkmsn]

5 minutes ago, EagleVA said:

I heard somewhere earlier this week by some analytics guy that your probability dramatically increases depending on how many "chunk plays" you have, not sure how many yards gained define a chunk play but I believe it's true.

There should be circumstances that calls for play designs such that if you see this coverage by this defender your guy should be open for a chunk play, it's a simple read and a launch.

One thing I'm beginning to question is how strong is Hurts' arm, can he get the ball deep to a speedster like Watkins, I've seen numerous attempts to hit him deep and the ball was underthrown and Watkins came back to the ball making a great catch.

What really made me begin question his arm strength was several times he had time, did the crow hop, and heaved it with seemingly all his might......the ball traveled 50 yards in the air which would put him in last place in most NFL QB Challenge competitions, Randall once won it with a 76 yard heave.

 

At the times when Hurts has underthrown a deep ball, it was because it was late. Those mainly happened in 2021. He can't throw a 70 yard pass like Cunningham could, but that ability is rare. One of the most successful deep ball throwers over the last decade was Russell Wilson. Hurts can throw every bit as far as Wilson. There are guys currently in the NFL that can get more air on the ball than Hurts (and Wilson), but that isn't always a successful process. Baker Mayfield and Wentz are a couple guys that have the ability to really launch a deep pass, but their success with that has been very limited. Hurts regularly gets about 54-56 air yards (not counting additional yards from a diagonal heave) on his deepest attempts. 

 

Anyway, like I said, timing is key. 

[JournalistMic]

On 8/8/2023 at 9:47 PM, brkmsn said:

s a game, made some mistakes by playing cautious

Quez did get 354 yards on 33 receptions as a number 3 receiver on a team that intends to run every play (RPO) if possible it is wrong to label him a bust at this point. That being said two seasons ago was his highest with 647 yards, he really has to break out this year to get the contract I'm sure he wants to receive. I expect he'll be real hungry for the ball this year.

On 8/8/2023 at 9:47 PM, brkmsn said:

Quez had a lot of "soft" plays after the grade 2 shoulder sprain. In hindsight, we probably should have sat him for a few weeks, but who did we have to replace him? It's pretty hard, though, to ever consider a 6th rounder a "bust." I don't expect Quez to play a whole lot in preseason. He's considered a starter. 

Last year, Hurts had the grade 1.5  shoulder sprain, sat out 2 games, played the regular season finale and played in a very soft, careful manner. He didn't play like himself and everybody understood. Quez had a more severe injury, didn't miss a game, made some mistakes by playing cautious, soft football and some fans have no understanding. I'm pretty sure Sirianni just had him out there mostly to be a decoy and draw some coverage away from the other targets. We simply didn't have another guy on the roster with the deep speed threat that could replace that dynamic while he recovered. 

"After the Tennessee game, I suffered a Grade 2 sprain,” Watkins said. "I’ve been playing on it for the last six to eight weeks, and honestly, it kind of like deteriorated my confidence. I wasn’t able to play at my best ability.”

 

"For me, I didn’t play my brand of football all year,” Watkins said. "Mental, honestly, that’s all it is. You just gotta play through all circumstances on and off the field. I should have just played ball instead of worrying about it.”

 

[EazyEaglez]

2 hours ago, JournalistMic said:

Quez did get 354 yards on 33 receptions as a number 3 receiver on a team that intends to run every play (RPO) if possible it is wrong to label him a bust at this point. That being said two seasons ago was his highest with 647 yards, he really has to break out this year to get the contract I'm sure he wants to receive. I expect he'll be real hungry for the ball this year.

 

I certainly believe the term bust is highly premature when it comes to Quez, but it’s foolish to act like last year’s mistakes weren’t a big deal either. There were issues the year prior, but they were mostly brushed aside as a younger player developing. Coming into this season to me it seemed like Quez was kind of soft. Stopping routes, fumbling a ball he caught because he got tackled from behind, running out of bounds on kick returns, not attacking the ball at its highest point possible in the air, letting the ball get ripped out his hands twice in one game, and these are just a few off the top of my head. This camp I am hearing a lot of praise for Quez by his teammates. Maddox on the radio made a point to discuss how Quez went up and fought for a pass to bring it down. That’s a good sign, because maybe he’s ready to be aggressive and fight for the football. It’s a contract year for Quez so he has to be at his best to get paid. We will see how it all plays (pays) out in the end. 

[JournalistMic]

On 8/14/2023 at 6:09 PM, EazyEaglez said:

I certainly believe the term bust is highly premature when it comes to Quez, but it’s foolish to act like last year’s mistakes weren’t a big deal either. There were issues the year prior, but they were mostly brushed aside as a younger player developing. Coming into this season to me it seemed like Quez was kind of soft. Stopping routes, fumbling a ball he caught because he got tackled from behind, running out of bounds on kick returns, not attacking the ball at its highest point possible in the air, letting the ball get ripped out his hands twice in one game, and these are just a few off the top of my head. This camp I am hearing a lot of praise for Quez by his teammates. Maddox on the radio made a point to discuss how Quez went up and fought for a pass to bring it down. That’s a good sign, because maybe he’s ready to be aggressive and fight for the football. It’s a contract year for Quez so he has to be at his best to get paid. We will see how it all plays (pays) out in the end. 

Quez suffered a hamstring injury this week, which might have hindered his performance recently but doesn't explain the entire time. You never want to see any player get injured, and for them to perform at their peak but it is another negative when the coaching staff is figuring out the depth chart for the start of the season.

[EazyEaglez]

6 hours ago, JournalistMic said:

Quez suffered a hamstring injury this week, which might have hindered his performance recently but doesn't explain the entire time. You never want to see any player get injured, and for them to perform at their peak but it is another negative when the coaching staff is figuring out the depth chart for the start of the season.

Agreed and it’s hard to show anyone that he’s made any improvement when he’s on the sidelines nursing an injury. He’s got to get healthy real quick.

[brkmsn]

7 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Agreed and it’s hard to show anyone that he’s made any improvement when he’s on the sidelines nursing an injury. He’s got to get healthy real quick.

He has been showing throughout OTAs and camp. The team will likely shut him down until the regular season just like they did with Miles Sanders last year. It's not like they were going to play him in preseason games anyway. This will give them a chance to work Covey, Oz, and Ward in with the ones to help make their final WR roster decisions. 

[time2rock]

14 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

He has been showing throughout OTAs and camp. The team will likely shut him down until the regular season just like they did with Miles Sanders last year. It's not like they were going to play him in preseason games anyway. This will give them a chance to work Covey, Oz, and Ward in with the ones to help make their final WR roster decisions. 

That makes sense.  Hard to believe his roster spot was in jeopardy so makes sense to sit him to fully recover to be best prepared for the regular season and give extra looks to those fighting to round out the depth chart (although it seems fairly likely Zaccheaus will be WR4 and Covery WR5 simply because he serves as our primary PR so those others are likely fighting for a practice squad spot or to be noticed and picked up by another team).  

[EazyEaglez]

3 hours ago, brkmsn said:

He has been showing throughout OTAs and camp. The team will likely shut him down until the regular season just like they did with Miles Sanders last year. It's not like they were going to play him in preseason games anyway. This will give them a chance to work Covey, Oz, and Ward in with the ones to help make their final WR roster decisions. 

Covey is also down with the same injury. The thing is hamstring injuries tend to linger a lot longer than other injuries especially for speed guys. We have seen this be a lingering season long issue for other speed guys like Stallworth and Jackson. Overall I don’t think it’s going to matter much anymore, because right now he’s probably the 5th to 6th receiver option on the team now with all of the weapons they have now. 

[brkmsn]

7 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Covey is also down with the same injury. The thing is hamstring injuries tend to linger a lot longer than other injuries especially for speed guys. We have seen this be a lingering season long issue for other speed guys like Stallworth and Jackson. Overall I don’t think it’s going to matter much anymore, because right now he’s probably the 5th to 6th receiver option on the team now with all of the weapons they have now. 

I think once you pull a hamstring, it becomes problematic until you give it ample time to heal. But I haven't really heard the severity of the Watkins or Covey issue. The Eagles tend to be real cautious and if there was just soreness or tightness, they won't press a player that has an important role. I'm sure we'll have to wait and see because the Eagles don't give out a lot of information before the season. 

[EazyEaglez]

4 hours ago, brkmsn said:

I think once you pull a hamstring, it becomes problematic until you give it ample time to heal. But I haven't really heard the severity of the Watkins or Covey issue. The Eagles tend to be real cautious and if there was just soreness or tightness, they won't press a player that has an important role. I'm sure we'll have to wait and see because the Eagles don't give out a lot of information before the season. 

Covey is probably in the mist trouble, because he’s not getting a chance to prove he’s improved as a receiver and there are some guys who are really showing something out there. If any of these guys do anything of value on PR he might not make the team. Devon Allen probably of all the receivers has been the most hurt by his injury. 

[brkmsn]

1 hour ago, EazyEaglez said:

Covey is probably in the mist trouble, because he’s not getting a chance to prove he’s improved as a receiver and there are some guys who are really showing something out there. If any of these guys do anything of value on PR he might not make the team. Devon Allen probably of all the receivers has been the most hurt by his injury. 

I would agree with you last year about Covey, but I really don't believe he's in any jeopardy this season. He's the best PR we have had in years. He improved a lot during his first season and has had that time to work on his WR skills as well. 

It seems almost every season we have a WR that really shines in preseason, that just doesn't make the final cut. I don't think this year's group is any different. Last year it was Deon Cain who caught everything in camp and then led all the WRs in preseason production including some great catches. The Eagles had no problem releasing him and then getting him back on the practice squad. Covey adds real PR value to any team that needs an upgrade. He will get claimed if we release him based on how well he was returning punts in the 2nd half of last season. The others might get some interest, but we certainly can get most if not all of them back on the PS after the roster cuts. 

BTW, I don't even recall hearing about any of those other WRs being worked at PR. Ironically, it was Quez that appears to be the first backup. Ward obviously can fill in, but is once again a likely PS candidate due to numbers. 

 

For the record, I was not impressed with Quez as a returner last season. If he's (still) getting practice reps (at PR), I hope he's doing much better in that department. I wasn't impressed with Covey at first last season either, but as he got more experience, he gained confidence and became a pretty good returner. 

[EazyEaglez]

1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

I would agree with you last year about Covey, but I really don't believe he's in any jeopardy this season. He's the best PR we have had in years. He improved a lot during his first season and has had that time to work on his WR skills as well. 

It seems almost every season we have a WR that really shines in preseason, that just doesn't make the final cut. I don't think this year's group is any different. Last year it was Deon Cain who caught everything in camp and then led all the WRs in preseason production including some great catches. The Eagles had no problem releasing him and then getting him back on the practice squad. Covey adds real PR value to any team that needs an upgrade. He will get claimed if we release him based on how well he was returning punts in the 2nd half of last season. The others might get some interest, but we certainly can get most if not all of them back on the PS after the roster cuts. 

BTW, I don't even recall hearing about any of those other WRs being worked at PR. Ironically, it was Quez that appears to be the first backup. Ward obviously can fill in, but is once again a likely PS candidate due to numbers. 

 

For the record, I was not impressed with Quez as a returner last season. If he's (still) getting practice reps (at PR), I hope he's doing much better in that department. I wasn't impressed with Covey at first last season either, but as he got more experience, he gained confidence and became a pretty good returner. 

I agree that for the time being Covey is the best return option, but in his stead for now they are trying out other options. I highly doubt Ward would be able to do enough to overcome Covey as a return guy, but if one of these young players show off a few TD returns in the preseason then Covey might be in some trouble. 

[EagleVA]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:09 AM, brkmsn said:

I would agree with you last year about Covey, but I really don't believe he's in any jeopardy this season. He's the best PR we have had in years. He improved a lot during his first season and has had that time to work on his WR skills as well. 

I thought Covey had excellent WR skills in college and I thought the Eagles would use him in the slot periodically, dude would be a nightmare trying to cover.

[judunno]

On 8/16/2023 at 7:01 PM, brkmsn said:

I think once you pull a hamstring, it becomes problematic until you give it ample time to heal. But I haven't really heard the severity of the Watkins or Covey issue. The Eagles tend to be real cautious and if there was just soreness or tightness, they won't press a player that has an important role. I'm sure we'll have to wait and see because the Eagles don't give out a lot of information before the season. 

Depends on your age. Young guys should snap back. When the older guys start getting the soft tissue injuries that's when they tend to linger. If they get enough rest and treatment they should be fine. Problem is guys rush back before strengthening back up and pop it again.

[judunno]

Starting to think Ngata took somebody's spot 👀 Big slot for the win.

[Cochis_Calhoun]

On 8/17/2023 at 6:09 AM, brkmsn said:

I would agree with you last year about Covey, but I really don't believe he's in any jeopardy this season. He's the best PR we have had in years. He improved a lot during his first season and has had that time to work on his WR skills as well. 

For the record, I was not impressed with Quez as a returner last season. If he's (still) getting practice reps (at PR), I hope he's doing much better in that department. I wasn't impressed with Covey at first last season either, but as he got more experience, he gained confidence and became a pretty good returner. 

Covey is literally the mean average punt returner, being the best we had in years just means we sucked for years, even Reagor could snap off a decent return his rookie year, I've no problem with having a specialist (I prefer it to risking one of the main receivers back there) but if you're keeping a bad WR as a specialist returner they have to be better than literally 17th of returners with over 10 returns on the season, otherwise their roster value is by definition a coin toss.

[brkmsn]

2 hours ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Covey is literally the mean average punt returner, being the best we had in years just means we sucked for years, even Reagor could snap off a decent return his rookie year, I've no problem with having a specialist (I prefer it to risking one of the main receivers back there) but if you're keeping a bad WR as a specialist returner they have to be better than literally 17th of returners with over 10 returns on the season, otherwise their roster value is by definition a coin toss.

In the last 10 games, Covey averaged 13.3 yards per return. That's way above the mean. I suppose you can make an argument that that is "cherry picking" but the point I'm trying to make is that he had improved. The first few weeks he was on the PS and only elevated for games. Covey is not somebody that doesn't work hard. He puts in the work and always tries to improve. The proof is in the results. You're worried about an unknown as far as his NFL WR game, but he's been putting in the work there too. Covey was only given 19 snaps on offense last season. That's how little we needed a WR5 in 2022. But he continues to work on being ready. He also filled in as the holder and did a good job. His role is to do what the team asks him to do. 

Anyway, JJAW was a bad WR. Reagor was a bad WR. There has been no indication that Covey is a bad WR. He just wasn't used so far. 

[DeathByEagle]

On 8/16/2023 at 8:29 AM, time2rock said:

That makes sense.  Hard to believe his roster spot was in jeopardy so makes sense to sit him to fully recover to be best prepared for the regular season and give extra looks to those fighting to round out the depth chart (although it seems fairly likely Zaccheaus will be WR4 and Covery WR5 simply because he serves as our primary PR so those others are likely fighting for a practice squad spot or to be noticed and picked up by another team).  

Or the Birds hype up the story his camp was great and boost up a trade market for him. 

Oh he has a hammy so he can't hit the field now to contradict his improvements. 

Well one could hope that is the true story

[brkmsn]

7 minutes ago, DeathByEagle said:

Or the Birds hype up the story his camp was great and boost up a trade market for him. 

Oh he has a hammy so he can't hit the field now to contradict his improvements. 

Well one could hope that is the true story

It wasn't Dave Spadaro, it was the beat writers, but I'm sure they were involved in the conspiracy ... 

[brkmsn]

The clip doesn't really show much, but the message doesn't change (for those wondering):

Watkins was limited. Covey is not quite that far yet.

[EazyEaglez]

"There was a point about a week or so into training camp where I really wondered whether Olamide Zaccheaus would make the roster. Zaccheaus was struggling catching the football, and what was really surprising was the lack of connection he had with Marcus Mariota, his quarterback with the Falcons last year. But something clicked and Zaccheaus has looked really good lately. One thing that’s helped is Quez Watkins’ hamstring injury. Watkins has been out since he got hurt on Aug. 10, and that’s given Zaccheaus a chance at a generous helping of 1^st-team reps in the slot, and any receiver is going to look better out there with Jalen Hurts instead of Mariota. But it’s more than that. He just looks like he’s settling in and growing comfortable playing in a new offense with new coaches and new teammates. I don’t know if Zaccheaus will match the 533 receiving yards he had last year considering the other weapons the Eagles have. But the Eagles have to feel much better about where he is than they did a few weeks ago.”

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/roobs-10-eagles-observations-revealing-133823876.html
 

Well is sure does sound like Zaccheaus is making the most of his chances since Quez hasn’t been able to. Catching passes from Hurts over Mariota sure must help a lot!

[brkmsn]

1 hour ago, EazyEaglez said:

"There was a point about a week or so into training camp where I really wondered whether Olamide Zaccheaus would make the roster. Zaccheaus was struggling catching the football, and what was really surprising was the lack of connection he had with Marcus Mariota, his quarterback with the Falcons last year. But something clicked and Zaccheaus has looked really good lately. One thing that’s helped is Quez Watkins’ hamstring injury. Watkins has been out since he got hurt on Aug. 10, and that’s given Zaccheaus a chance at a generous helping of 1^st-team reps in the slot, and any receiver is going to look better out there with Jalen Hurts instead of Mariota. But it’s more than that. He just looks like he’s settling in and growing comfortable playing in a new offense with new coaches and new teammates. I don’t know if Zaccheaus will match the 533 receiving yards he had last year considering the other weapons the Eagles have. But the Eagles have to feel much better about where he is than they did a few weeks ago.”

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/roobs-10-eagles-observations-revealing-133823876.html
 

Well is sure does sound like Zaccheaus is making the most of his chances since Quez hasn’t been able to. Catching passes from Hurts over Mariota sure must help a lot!

Zaccheaus is a quality signing. It always takes players a little bit of time to adjust to a whole new offense and get comfortable playing in it. That's why I'm not overly concerned about Mariota as the backup. The adjustments to a new offense and team are a little more intensive for a QB than a WR. We know Mariota isn't a starter right now, but he should be able to settle into a role as a quality backup. I kind of wish they were giving him more work in the final preseason game. The more he plays, the more comfortable he should get. It helped Zaccheaus.