The Final Verdict On The Sammy Watkins Draft Day Trade?

[Boca BIlls]

Doug traded up the one year the WR crop was full of good prospects... He did the wrong thing all the time.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Boca BIlls

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

You never trade a 1st rd pick for a WR, Whaley was a idiot. I'm so glad he is gone, worst GM in Bills history.

[Norwood for Wall of Fame]

Compare that bad Sammy trade to this one: Rams give us a 2nd and EJ Gaines for a 6th and Sammy in order to target him 70 times (39 catches for 8 TDs and 593 yards) then lose him to free agency.

 

Makes our trade-up to get Sammy look positively brilliant.

[Ayjent]

32 minutes ago, Norwood for Wall of Fame said:

Compare that bad Sammy trade to this one: Rams give us a 2nd and EJ Gaines for a 6th and Sammy in order to target him 70 times (39 catches for 8 TDs and 593 yards) then lose him to free agency.

 

Makes our trade-up to get Sammy look positively brilliant.

And what the Chiefs gave him makes the Rams look brilliant by not resigning him.  It's amazing how guys with pedigree of draft position get the benefit of the doubt, while guys who prove themselves constantly but were low picks or UDFA have to fight that stigma most of their early careers.  NFL Executives get way too much credit for being extremely mediocre to bad at their jobs - its all relative to the other guys that we judge them - NFL guys are not as bad as NBA execs, but they aren't impressive.  Doug Whaley is a good case in point, but the funny thing is he truly is a middle of the road NFL exec - there are much worse still employed all around the NFL.

 

I knew that the trade for Watkins was a dumb move at the time it was made, just like I knew drafting Manuel was ludicrous in the 1st round (especially after the Bills had sat on their hands for many, many years waiting for the right time to pick a QB).  Everyone who watched college ball and paid attention to the draft projections of WRs knew that Watkins' class was full of talent.  It was a high rated draft for both QB and WR prospects before the draft.   Watkins skill set was great for the college game because WR screens are way more effective in college and that was Sammy's bread and butter.  Although he is physically gifted, he isn't particularly big to withstand constant abuse in running those types of plays and he isn't a great route runner and isn't particularly good at positioning himself and adjusting to throws (not as good as the best WRs in the game - Brown and Evans are really good at this).  He wasn't asked to do these things much at Clemson and that was why I thought it was ridiculous that he was considered a top 5 pick over Evans (who I also thought was a risk because of his temper and attitude), but Evans was a better receiver in almost all aspects if you watched them both play, especially when it came to throws beyond the line of scrimmage.  I didn't think Beckham would be that good, but LSU QBs were pretty bad (and Mettenberger was atrocious at times until Cameron joined the staff) - he also went into a good situation with an established QB.

 

The Nix-Whaley team spent a ton of picks on WR and the best pick was Woods - but even a monkey throwing crap at the wall will hit the target if you throw enough crap at it - TJ Graham, Goodwin, Dez Lewis, traded pick for Mike Williams, Woods, Watkins (three picks).  All that and by the time the Whaley era ends - the Bills with Beane and McDermott traded Watkins and started over spending a 2nd on Zay Jones, a 3rd and 7th on Benjamin, and traded a Darby (a starting CB) for Jordan Matthews.  Jones, Benjamin and Matthews didn't play much as a unit, but the WRs weren't exactly lighting it up.  We'll see if Benjamin can recover from his injury and if Jones makes a big leap from last year, but the WR position is still very questionable. 

[bobobonators]

It was brutal. 

[Irv]

Watkins should be power slammed through a burning table.