2022 Second Round Pick, #34, Christian Watson Discussion Thread

[HarveyWallbangers]

ESPN

Pre-Draft Analysis
Watson is a big target with outstanding speed, longer arms and big hands. He's a threat to take the top off the coverage and is an instinctive open-field runner with good contact balance. Watson is a hands catcher with good body control and a wide catch radius. He's a smooth mover for his size and flashed as a route runner the week of the Senior Bowl. -- Steve Muench

Post-Draft Analysis
The Packers desperately needed a big-bodied receiver, and they get one in Watson. He has the physical traits to become a great receiver, but is raw coming out of the run-heavy offense. While his potential is impressive, the early production might be less than fans would like. -- Matt Miller

[Fritz]

In the end, I really like the player, but I hated giving up two 2nd round draft picks to get him.
I'd have rather picked him at 28.

I hope in a few years all three of our top picks are in the Pro Bowl

In three years, we'll see if Watson turns out to be worth the price - if he's that much better than Metchie, Pickens, and especially Pierce, who was taken at #53 I think.

One way to frame it is would you rather have Watson, or Pierce and another player who was available at #59 and would have been of interest to the Pack. We will know in three years.

[RashanGary]

Im warming up to the Watson pick. Elite talent. Itll be interesting to see if they can get him up to speed and if he works on his craft diligently. Hes got a shot.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Chris Simms and this dude know.

[RashanGary]

Chris Simms and this dude know.

Im so torn on this guy. His speed isnt even his #1 trait when i watch him, its his movement skills at that size. Its ridiculous. He has the ability to be elite getting off the line with his explosiveness and length. He has the ability to be an elite route runner with his suddenness and agility. He has the ability to be elite after the catch with his movement and size. AND hes fast as lightning.

HOWEVER!!!!!

Hes also got suspect ball skills. Thats such a big part of receiver. I dont know if you can coach that out of him.

[RashanGary]

You are just going to have to live with the drops. Its like MVS, hell go for 65 yards and a tud on a perfect deep ball and then hell drop one put right in his hands. Youre going to have that with Watson.

[RashanGary]

I could see Watson having a similar rookie year to MVS (580 yards)

We should be able to line him up like MVS and run deep while Watkins and Lazard work underneath.

It will be interesting to see if he can round out his game and have some other go-to routes, or if hell round into a complete player.

[HarveyWallbangers]

His hands are better than MVS. His ball tracking and route running are miles ahead of MVS.

[Joemailman]

You are just going to have to live with the drops. Its like MVS, hell go for 65 yards and a tud on a perfect deep ball and then hell drop one put right in his hands. Youre going to have that with Watson.

Who cared about drops? Lots of good receivers have drops, because they're the ones getting open. MVS failed to become elite because he seldom caught contested balls. That's different than drops.

The receivers in the NFL with the most drops in 2021:

J. Chase
D. Samuel
D. Moore
T. Kelce
D. Mooney
C. Kupp
K. Allen
C. Lamb
J. Waddle
J. Jefferson
T. Hill
M. Williams
M. Pittman

[ZachMN]

Some of you seem to forget how bad 'Tae was when he was younger. Only bad part of this is we didn't have overlap with 17 but we have Lazard and now Watkins plus maybe Cooper will step up as well. That along with a potentially kick ass (finally) defense will make all this chatter moot. You want a guy that is still growing and this kid seems to be. Like someone said he has a high ceiling.

[texaspackerbacker]

His hands are better than MVS. His ball tracking and route running are miles ahead of MVS.

You beat me to saying that, Harvey. Also, MVS undoubtedly had less targets, catches, and yards as a rookie than Watson should get for the obvious reason: we had Davante.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Watson (#1) and Doubs (#7) at Senior Bowl practice. It's cool that those two were teammates down there. Plus, Khalil Shakur and Bo Melton. If you go to youtube, you can click the links below to just see the 1 on 1s for each individual player.

[bobblehead]

In three years, we'll see if Watson turns out to be worth the price - if he's that much better than Metchie, Pickens, and especially Pierce, who was taken at #53 I think.

One way to frame it is would you rather have Watson, or Pierce and another player who was available at #59 and would have been of interest to the Pack. We will know in three years.

My hunch is that he will look the best of that lot, but because he has an elite QB. I think if we had taken Pickens or Pierce I would say the same about them.

[RashanGary]

My hunch is that he will look the best of that lot, but because he has an elite QB. I think if we had taken Pickens or Pierce I would say the same about them.

DJ Moore is having 1,200 yard seasons with Cam, Kyle Allen, Bridgewater and Darnold.

DJ Moore is the most underrated WR in the game and balls out no matter who the QB is.

[texaspackerbacker]

My hunch is that he will look the best of that lot, but because he has an elite QB. I think if we had taken Pickens or Pierce I would say the same about them.

Obviously I agree with that completely, but with Watson, it will just be by a wider margin because he will be a better player than either of those others or any other WR drafted this year.

RG, you might be right that Moore is good, but having those big yardage seasons is a product of how much a team emphasizes the pass game as well as what other receivers they have, and I don't think Carolina had many other good ones.

[RashanGary]

Comparing MVS to Watson

Watson
1.45 seconds from 0-10 yards
1.00 seconds from 10-20 yards
1.91 seconds from 20-40 yards
4.36 40 yard dash

MVS
1.55 second from 0-10 yards
1.03 seconds from 10-20 yards
1.79 seconds from 20-40 yards
4.37 40 yard dash


Theyre both 6-4 and 206 Lbs for MVS and 208 lbs for Watson.

Watson shows more juice out of the gates with a 1.45 10 yard split compared to 1.55 for MVS

But MVS shows more top end speed, running the last 20 yards in a blazing 1.79 seconds compared to Watsons 1.91.

Watson shows a lot more explosion in his jumps. 38.5 inch compared to 30.5 inch verts.

Watson 6.96 3 cone
MVS 6.85 3 cone

Watson 4.19 shuttle
MVS 4.17 shuttle

They have similar agility scores for their height

Both have iffy hands.

Watson rarely broke tackles. MVS rarely breaks tackles.

Watson looks a lot more explosive and agile with the ball in his hands, changing speeds and making cuts regularly. He used his explosiveness to erase angles and get away from guys. MVS seemed a little more linear and didnt make a lot of guys miss despite having similar agility numbers.

[RashanGary]

I do expect Watson to be better on the short and especially intermediate routes. He has more upside to be a complete WR with his explosiveness out of breaks and with the ball in his hands.

Theyre the same height and weight with the same 40 time and same agility numbers, but theyre very different players.

[Joemailman]

That's amazing that MVS only had a vertical of 30.5. A lot of 300+ lb. linemen do better than that. I guess that's why he was never good at 50/50 balls. He couldn't elevate over guys the way you would think a guy with his height would. The fact that Watson's vertical is 8 inches more is a huge difference between the two.

[RashanGary]

That's amazing that MVS only had a vertical of 30.5. A lot of 300+ lb. linemen do better than that. I guess that's why he was never good at 50/50 balls. He couldn't elevate over guys the way you would think a guy with his height would. The fact that Watson's vertical is 8 inches more is a huge difference between the two.

The jumps are a huge difference and that 10 yard split is a huge difference in Watsons favor.

The 20-40 yard time is a huge difference in MVS favor.

I dont think jumps are nearly as important as speed for WR.

The biggest difference between the two on the field is Watsons burst compared to MVS long speed.

I hope Watson goes after the ball more aggressively and can get open underneath better.

Hes not that much of a better athlete than MVS though.

Lets not get too excited about height and speed because we already had it and it wasnt that great.

[RashanGary]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pri...er-cooper-kupp

Shows how ras scores correlate to success.