USA TODAY International Edition
Statistics unlikely to reflect Watkins’ value
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Sammy Watkins hit free agency this year, he wasn’t searching for an NFL team with the most established quarterback or a franchise with a glaring hole for a No. 1 wide receiver. Watkins wanted to find a place where he could grow as part of a young offense.
Now with the Chiefs, the 2014 firstround pick of the Bills is hoping to resurrect a career that was nearly derailed by injuries. But now Watkins has time.
Despite entering his fifth NFL season, he will only be 25 on opening day and is excited to bond with new starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who’s 22.
“I just made the playoffs one time, and I want to have a successful career. And the only way to do that is to get with a good coach and a good team, so I definitely looked at the players and the quarterback,” Watkins, who spent 2017 with the Rams after being traded by Buffalo last summer, told USA TODAY at last week’s organized team activities. “I got a young quarterback who might play 15 or 20 years and be great.
“I didn’t want to be with an older quarterback. I came here to be with a young guy that I can grow with. I’m young; he’s really young. It’s a young team in general.”
Of course, the Chiefs also gave Watkins a substantial financial offer — a three-year contract worth $48 million ($30 million guaranteed). That’s No. 1 receiver-type money, especially for a player who has never been to the Pro Bowl or had more than 65 receptions in a season. Watkins has one 1,000-yard season (when he caught 60 passes for 1,047 yards in 2015) and dealt with foot, ankle, hip and calf injuries during his time in Buffalo.
Yet he won’t necessarily be asked to be a true No. 1 in Kansas City, either — not for an offense that has two returning 1,000yard pass-catchers (tight end Travis Kelce and receiver Tyreek Hill) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Kareem Hunt).
“I might not get 1,000 yards and be called a bust or whatever,” Watkins said. “But as long as I’m winning championships and we’re in the Super Bowl, I could care less about the stats and yards.”
That wasn’t the case in Buffalo after the Bills traded up in 2014 to select him with the No. 4 pick (they could have had Odell Beckham Jr. if they’d stayed put at No. 9). It bothered Watkins to see fans talking negatively about him on social media, though he remains active on Twitter and Instagram and frequently engages fellow NFL players and fans alike on a variety of topics. But he worries less about outside opinions.
His lone season with the Rams could have easily been seen as a disappointment after Watkins posted only 39 catches for 593 yards in 2017. However, his eight touchdowns were one shy of his career high.
He took away only positive things from his time in Los Angeles, playing alongside another first-round, sophomore quarterback (Jared Goff) on another offense that also featured its running back (Todd Gurley).
Watkins remained largely healthy for the Rams and believes he showcased an uncanny knack for getting open — no matter what’s happening elsewhere on the field.
“It was a good thing where I went to the Rams and went through that situation of getting open and showing what I can do playing without the ball. I think those are the best receivers,” Watkins said.
“I might get double covered the entire game, and I’m still working. Or I might be open the whole game and not getting the ball — zero targets, zero yards — but I’m still getting open, still working hard.”
Now he’s trying to immerse himself in Andy Reid’s playbook, a task made more complicated by the fact that the veteran coach is having Watkins learn all of the Chiefs’ receiver positions while simultaneously trying to establish chemistry with Mahomes, who took over as the starter this offseason after the trade of Alex Smith to Washington.
“We’ve overloaded him with that,” Reid said last week. “That’s how we do it with this offense. That’s something new for him.”