Rumor- Bills will entertain trade offers for Watkins?

[Thurman#1]

Sorry Mr. Word Parser rather than "best thing", I should have typed "most informed thing". I hope you now understand.

 

 

Oh, you made a mistake? Fine, don't worry about it. These things happen.

 

As for my saying that he isn't a bust, that that shouldn't be an argument at this point, I stand by it.

 

A #4 pick. Who's gotten 2459 yards (7th best in his draft so far) and 17 TDs, which comes out to 820 yards and 6.66 TDs per year. For, again, a #4 pick? Nope, not a bust. Too early to say that.

[LB3]

I would lock this thread if I could since I started I but my only option is to delete it. Not sure that's ideal since there is some good content. But maybe a mod can lock... it has definitely reached the point of circular arguments. I think whether or not it would benefit the team to trade him is a valid debate, but we just don't have enough info right now in May to present real facts on the medical and too early to see how he will perform in the offense. Thread could reach 100 pages by TC with no new info presented.

At this point, might as well just throw some gasoline on this thread and burn it down.....

 

How about they trade Sammy straight up for Hogan and then see what Da'Rick is up to these days?

Edited June 1, 2017 by LBSeeBallLBGetBall

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

Oh, you made a mistake? Fine, don't worry about it. These things happen.

 

As for my saying that he isn't a bust, that that shouldn't be an argument at this point, I stand by it.

 

A #4 pick. Who's gotten 2459 yards (7th best in his draft so far) and 17 TDs, which comes out to 820 yards and 6.66 TDs per year. For, again, a #4 pick? Nope, not a bust. Too early to say that.

 

That's not how you project his stats when he's played in 37 of 48 possible games.

[4merper4mer]

 

 

Oh, you made a mistake? Fine, don't worry about it. These things happen.

 

As for my saying that he isn't a bust, that that shouldn't be an argument at this point, I stand by it.

 

A #4 pick. Who's gotten 2459 yards (7th best in his draft so far) and 17 TDs, which comes out to 820 yards and 6.66 TDs per year. For, again, a #4 pick? Nope, not a bust. Too early to say that.

 

 

That's just stupid.

[Thurman#1]

You realize the WRs don't throw the balls to themselves right? His QB is Tyrod. Put Sammy in almost any other offense in the league and his stats are much better imo. Ground & pound + TT = poor WR.

 

 

 

While I'm no huge Tyrod fan, what you're saying there is a guess. Could be right.

 

But equally, maybe his injuries and other circumstances would not have allowed much improvement. We don't know, though certainly you might be right. Maybe extra wear and tear would have caused his injuries to become worse. We don't know.

[thebandit27]

 

That's not how you project his stats when he's played in 37 of 48 possible games.

 

And again: context matters. He plays on a team that has attempted the fewest passes in the NFL for 2 consecutive years.

[oldmanfan]

 

 

That's just it. Playing with an injury. The guy's been unable to stay healthy.

 

Perhaps he'll stay healthy this year. But maybe not. And we'll be in a different offense this year, there's no knowing what'll happen, healthy or not.

 

We just don't know, and that should make the trade possible. Certainly very unlikely. But possible especially if they think he could be turned into the final piece of a tradeup for a franchise QB.

He has played through some injuries, but it is tough to play through a broken foot.

 

What everyone should hope for is that Sammy is fully recovered and has a great 2017. If he is the elite guy we felt we had when he was drafted then to me you work out a long term deal. Trading great players in their prime makes little sense.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

And again: context matters. He plays on a team that has attempted the fewest passes in the NFL for 2 consecutive years.

 

A huge factor of course in addition to the QBs he's played with.

[Thurman#1]

 

Not exactly true. He remained mostly healthy and productive in his 1st two seasons before the foot injury last season. The injury question makes a trade highly unlikely instead of possible. Why would a team trade for him at this juncture and why would the Bills entertain any offer that would likely be of low value?

 

 

While he didn't miss a lot of games, he spent much of his first two years fighting injuries as well. Here's a story listing some:

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

I agree that a trade is unlikely. Highly unlikely? Fair enough.

 

And the Bills shouldn't take any low offer. But it's possible someone on another team could have as much faith in his eventual ability to become a very good player as many on this thread seem to.

[JM2009]

You realize the WRs don't throw the balls to themselves right? His QB is Tyrod. Put Sammy in almost any other offense in the league and his stats are much better imo. Ground & pound + TT = poor WR.

And yet him and TT were one of the best duos the second half of 2015.

[oldmanfan]

Dennison' offense should be a good one for TT and Sammy.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

While he didn't miss a lot of games, he spent much of his first two years fighting injuries as well. Here's a story listing some:

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

I agree that a trade is unlikely. Highly unlikely? Fair enough.

 

And the Bills shouldn't take any low offer. But it's possible someone on another team could have as much faith in his eventual ability to become a very good player as many on this thread seem to.

 

What NFL player doesn't battle through injury during the course of a season? If he returns to full health, the Bills would be idiots to get rid of a 24 year old player with his talent. It's not the kind of move that would set the team on a course for future success.

[K-9]

 

That's not how you project his stats when he's played in 37 of 48 possible games.

That's exactly how you project stats when you want to make a specious argument.

[Thurman#1]

 

And again: context matters. He plays on a team that has attempted the fewest passes in the NFL for 2 consecutive years.

 

 

Agreed, but all context, not just one stat.

 

Fewest passes. Terrific ground game to take pressure off the pass game. Injuries. An unspectacular catch percentage, even compared to a few of his teammates over the years he's been here. And also his terrific nine-game streak. But also the times he just didn't look dangerous.

 

There's a lot of context. Plenty more for Watkins detractors and supporters to add in.

[26CornerBlitz]

That's exactly how you project stats when you want to make a specious argument.

 

Apparently so.

[thebandit27]

 

 

While he didn't miss a lot of games, he spent much of his first two years fighting injuries as well. Here's a story listing some:

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

I agree that a trade is unlikely. Highly unlikely? Fair enough.

 

And the Bills shouldn't take any low offer. But it's possible someone on another team could have as much faith in his eventual ability to become a very good player as many on this thread seem to.

 

That's just it Thurman: he's already a very good player. Actually, his per-target production is downright elite.

 

As I've said over and over, the numbers every year clearly indicate that quantity of targets is the #1 predictor in accumulation of statistics, and is so by a significant margin.

 

The main contributor to Sammy not producing like the Beckham's and Joneses of the league has been a relative lack of usage when he's on the field. The second-greatest contributor has been lack of availability.

 

We need only look at the difference in the QB's performance when he's on the field versus when he's not to see his impact on the game:

 

http://www.buffaloru...ying-his-impact

 

"Last season, Tyrod Taylor and EJ Manuel averaged 6.65 yards per attempt when Watkins was not on the field. When Watkins was on the field, Taylor and Manuel combined for a 7.38 yards-per-attempt average."

 

"The disparity is even more staggering when solely focusing on Taylor.

• Taylor with Watkins: 8.23 YPA
• Taylor without Watkins: 7.13 YPA"

[4merper4mer]

 

 

While he didn't miss a lot of games, he spent much of his first two years fighting injuries as well. Here's a story listing some:

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/24712/add-broken-foot-to-sammy-watkins-growing-list-of-nfl-injuries

 

I agree that a trade is unlikely. Highly unlikely? Fair enough.

 

And the Bills shouldn't take any low offer. But it's possible someone on another team could have as much faith in his eventual ability to become a very good player as many on this thread seem to.

Eventually become a very good player?

 

That shipped probably sailed when his age equalled his uniform number. He has already become something more than a very good player. You can see it by looking. Do you think another NHL team could have as much faith as some Sabres fans that Eichel will eventually become a very good player? Because Eichel is the only player in town close to being in the same age/talent Goldilocks zone as Sammy.

 

Unless McDonahoe is an idiot, they won't entertain trading Sammy beyond a very bad team offering a very high pick. And it doesn't really make sense for a bad team to do that.

Edited June 1, 2017 by 4merper4mer

[NewEra]

While I'm no huge Tyrod fan, what you're saying there is a guess. Could be right.

 

But equally, maybe his injuries and other circumstances would not have allowed much improvement. We don't know, though certainly you might be right. Maybe extra wear and tear would have caused his injuries to become worse. We don't know.

 

its also a guess saying that Emmitt Smith wouldn't be the NFLs all time leading rusher if he was drafted by the Cardinals. Would be right. Sammy played in an offense that ran the ball more than any team in football and threw the ball less than any team in football. Sure it's a guess because he hasn't played in another offense with another QB but it's easy to project.

[thebandit27]

 

 

Agreed, but all context, not just one stat.

 

Fewest passes. Terrific ground game to take pressure off the pass game. Injuries. An unspectacular catch percentage, even compared to a few of his teammates over the years he's been here. And also his terrific nine-game streak. But also the times he just didn't look dangerous.

 

There's a lot of context. Plenty more for Watkins detractors and supporters to add in.

 

The only difference between the times he's looked utterly unstoppable and the times he hasn't has been a focus (or lack thereof) on making him the primary weapon in the passing game. The target numbers bear it out.

[Thurman#1]

 

What NFL player doesn't battle through injury during the course of a season? If he returns to full health, the Bills would be idiots to get rid of a 24 year old player with his talent. It's not the kind of move that would set the team on a course for future success.

 

 

Look at the story. These injuries aren't just in one season. He's been injured consistently.

 

It's a move that could be good or bad depending on what they got for him and what they turned it into. IMHO, anyway. I agree there's a lot of good arguments against trading him. I just think that if it became the difference between getting and not getting a QB who is a consistent top ten guy, I'd support it in a second.

 

Though I absolutely agree that a healthy Sammy stands a chance of being a very good player.