Revisiting The Sammy Watkins Fetish
November 10th, 2014
So many Bucs fans were out of their minds obsessed with rookie receiver Sammy Watkins leading up this year’s NFL Draft.
These fans were out of their minds crazy aching for the Bucs to trade up to draft the talented prospect out of Clemson.
Joe consistently referred to this phenomenon as the Sammy Watkins Fetish.
And it turned out the Bucs could have traded up for Watkins, like Buffalo did to snatch him with the No. 4 overall pick. But the Bucs played it cool and drafted Mike Evans at No. 7 overall, shunning Joe’s desire for a quarterback.
Thus far, it sure seems like the Bucs picked the right receiver.
Watkins has 42 catches for 617 yards and five touchdowns in nine games. Through eight games, Evans has 39 catches for 585 yards and five TDs. Each player has had to adjust to multiple quarterbacks and deal with minor injuries. Like Evans, Watkins also has good receiving talent around him to reduce pressure on him.
Rather than feel all the agony of Bucs fandom today, Joe’s taking time out to smile and appreciate the Bucs’ draft-day score.
Man, it should be something if the Bucs can land a true franchise quarterback prospect to grow with Evans, who turned just 21 in April.
November 10th, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Great hands….
November 10th, 2014 at 4:01 pm
If the bucs had a nfl caliber qb I believe evans would hands down be rookie of year. Between cement shoes under throws and mcclowns bad decisions I can only imagine what his numbers would be.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:04 pm
I don’t watch much college football. But from what I read and hear, neither Winston nor Mariota will be ready to start in the NFL on day one. So does this mean another season of crappy offensive football?
November 10th, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Huh? The Bucs picked the right receiver? They have identical stats…
November 10th, 2014 at 4:19 pm
Odell Beckham Jr. might be better than Evans and Watkins both. He was very impressive yesterday against Seattle. Not that I have any problem with Evans he looks terrific, it was just a loaded WR class and a very poor QB class.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:20 pm
I know someone that has a repoire with Evans, Johnny Football.
WHy not trade Glennon and our 2nd round pick for Manziel.
The browns dont want him. That would be a spark this franchise needs.
Be bold.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:30 pm
I wasn’t on the Watkins train, I wanted Evans cause he helped make the Johnny Football media craze.
Though it was hilarious that they passed on Johnny Clipboard after your months of fetish over him, but now I am starting to wish they had taken him and Evans. The Bucs definitely could’ve trade up to get him and his buddy Evans. 🙁
November 10th, 2014 at 4:32 pm
If the Bucs had taken a QB instead of WR, we would still be in the same boat, except that we’d have a QB with a year exp going into next year, instead of a rookie.
And given the way the oline and defense is playing? We’d probably have picked the top lineman in the 2015 draft, taken another in round 2 and a WR in round 3. Offensive problems solved.
II like Evans, but its a lot easier to train a rookie WR than a rookie QB. We’ll wish we had experience for our QB next year.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Manziel will be a total bust.
Raiders have Carr. All they need is a good oline. They won’t be going QB with the first pick if they get it. If we pick 2nd, we’ll have our pick.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:44 pm
Manziel can’t beat Hoyer, Bridgewater has been awful against any defense not ranked as terrible, Carr has shown nothing, Mettenberger is a bunch of meh.
This QB class of 2015 has at least 4 guys better than any QB we could have drafted in 2014. Absolutely not a mistake to have avoided a QB. One of the few smart calls by Lovie and Licht.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
I’m gonna open this can of worms…
Glennon for Cutler straight up, do you take it?
Bears unload Cutlers contract and get to run him out of town while getting solid potential in return.
Bucs get…Cutler???
November 10th, 2014 at 4:45 pm
Raiders can absolutely draft a QB by the way. Carr hasn’t shown enough to be a stone cold lock going forward, and the Raiders will have a new regime in place. They may prefer Mariota or someone else, and will trade Carr instead. No guarantee the Raiders don’t draft a QB at all.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Joe,
Stop with the BS come out with a “it’s Time to Fire Lovie Smith” headline.
Or Its time to fire Leslie Fraser Headline.
FYI our Defense is worse than our Offense so Arroyo stays longer than Leslie.
November 10th, 2014 at 4:53 pm
That would be grossly irresponsible.
November 10th, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Glazers need to sell the team. They are inept.
November 10th, 2014 at 5:16 pm
I wanted “Sammy @ 7″……never to trade up….but I am happy with ME13….thus far…..we did good!!!
November 10th, 2014 at 5:18 pm
Excellent idea. Trade known bad QB Glennon for brand new #1 QB Manziel. You should be a GM, you’re so smart. We should also trade Doug Martin for DeMarco Murray. Hey, I can be a GM too!
November 10th, 2014 at 5:26 pm
@Jimmy – to clarify, he’s saying we won out because they have identical starts but buffalo gave up the farm to get their guy and we simply stayed put and got a great receiver prospect without giving up anything
November 10th, 2014 at 5:35 pm
This team has had 7 of its 9 games decided late in the 4th quarter. It is insane to believe that with a little bit better QB play (think of Mariota and Winston as McCown with way better athleticism, arm, and accuracy, as well as much better composure), you don’t think we could’ve won these games? If we had GOOD (not even great) QB play, we’d be 7-2 right now. 6 games decided by a TD or less, and one decided late in the 4th quarter…with GOOD QB play, it’s a whole different story.
That’s why Mariota and Winston have to be the pick. With GOOD QB play, this team has a winning record at the very least.
November 10th, 2014 at 5:45 pm
LOL revisiting draft results halfway through a players rookie season and calling yourself a winner for picking a WR over another one with nearly identical stats? LOL. Joe and ‘Rockstar’ Mark Dominik, the best two draft experts in the history of the world!
November 10th, 2014 at 5:53 pm
we were lucky, thus far it looks like evans, watkins, and beckham are on track to be very good pros. evans might wind up being the least dynamic of the 3 in the long run, but the things he does well will make him unstoppable when the right matchups come around. evans (and the entire draft class) obviously need more of a track record to prove they are not mike clayton\doug martin types who peak as rookies, but it seems like any round 1 WR in 2014 was a can’t-miss type of player. that’s great news for the bucs, because outside of LVD it seems like everyone other than our can’t-miss picks (GMC, basically) has been a draft day miss
November 10th, 2014 at 6:13 pm
Just out of curiosity Brandon, what do Lovie’s nuts taste like? Salty? A little sweet?
November 10th, 2014 at 6:32 pm
Here’s a thought as well. Eli might be ousted from the Giants. He can’t run but he has the pedigree and 2 Rings. I would pull the trigger on Eli as a free agent.
November 10th, 2014 at 6:43 pm
Can you spot the NFL-caliber player in this picture?
November 10th, 2014 at 6:47 pm
As I said before, Eli is the opposite of his brother. Terrible in the regular season, great in the playoffs. Bucs won’t ever make it to the playoffs with Manning to benefit from his mysterious postseason clutches.
November 10th, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Heard same for Cutler/Lovie/Bucs. Let’s aim higher.
There is a certain record-setting, Super Bowl-winning quarterback who plays for a thrifty ownership group whose contract expires after 2015 and despite his desire, the team has not discussed a new contract with his representatives (yet). Why not push all the chips to the middle of the table and trade for Big Ben is the Rooneys aren’t motivated to re-up his contract?
November 10th, 2014 at 7:21 pm
Because Ben will be going to Arizona. Makes way, way, way too much sense. He’ll refuse any trade to Tampa and will force his way to Arizona, you can pretty much book it.
As to Cutler/Eli? 50% one of them is your 2015 Bucs starter. Lovie has a hard on for vets, I expect a vet is the starter next year, an acquired one of McCown. 0% chance a rookie plays next year when Lovie is in win now mode.
November 10th, 2014 at 7:53 pm
Re Evans, who certainly looks like The Real Deal, I was thinking yesterday about what the Falcs had to give up in order to draft Julio Jones: “Atlanta had traded five draft picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up into their spot and take Jones, giving up their 27th, 59th, and 124th picks from the 2011 draft, and their first and fourth round picks from the 2012 draft.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Jones
November 10th, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Lots of great ideas and talk floating around. Im stickin with Winston though. And heres why. Last year the Noles D was absolutely lights out and they were able to run the score up before half time, then just put things in auto pilot. Bucs fans know what that looks like all too well. But this year the D at FSU isnt that good and the Noles have found themselves more and more, leaning on Winston for the win. And he has been delivering. Hes got the moves, hes got the arm. He has that “thing” that players around him seem to respond to.
November 10th, 2014 at 9:33 pm
Football 101
OL. Dl. LB. Corner, etc
Build the Building before you put in windows
November 10th, 2014 at 10:42 pm
Rather have Evans over Watkins and Beckham… Evans looks like he could b unstoppable
November 10th, 2014 at 11:07 pm
What would u call that johnny manziel “sickness” u had joe?
November 10th, 2014 at 11:26 pm
Mike Glennon looks better than Cam Newton
Mark Sanchise looks better than Russel Wilson
We dont need Jameis
November 10th, 2014 at 11:32 pm
Brandin cooks has 48 catches for 500 yards n 3tds
November 10th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
I wanted Evans for about a month straight before the draft… I hope he continues to shine. Now go get him a QB and build up that atrocious O-line.
November 10th, 2014 at 11:45 pm
Check this out.
http://draftseason.com/nfl-rookie-info/ds-nfl-rookie-stats/
November 11th, 2014 at 4:17 am
If Ben had a choice of AZ or Tampa it is likely he would go west…… Christ why would he want to play for the Glazer kids, though that Bidwell prick in AZ is almost a Culverhouse clone……
November 11th, 2014 at 6:15 am
I predicted the Evans draft early march…
November 11th, 2014 at 9:05 am
Everyone predicted Evans since the Mike Williams trade people lets not pat our backs too strongly for that obvious choice… A lot of rookie WR has been extremely solid this year… Watkins, Evans, Benjamin, Beckham, Cooks, Robinson, Hurns(UDFA), Bryant(6th or 7th rd pick), Adams, Brown, and I’m sure others that I cannot remember right now.
Ya I HIGHLY doubt(and when I say highly doubt it means IT’S NOT HAPPENING) Big Ben and his soon to be FAT contract will be going to AZ where they literally just PAID Palmer $50 million over the next 3 years(not sure whats guaranteed)… Not one coach or gm is that dumb to tie up nearly $33 million a year in QB salary for 2 aging veterans.
November 11th, 2014 at 9:18 am
Comment awaiting moderation for that??? Hmmm
Anyway no it’s not time to grab an older QB who cannot stay healthy for the majority of his career(Cutler or Big Ben take your pick)… It’s time to hitch your wagons to a young QB for the future and hope he can make up for the lack of defense,special teams, or receiving options we may have in the future. A true Franchise QB can overcome that stuff and still win games.. Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson instantly spring to mind as young guys.
Hundley it is for me he does more with the least amount of talent… Matt Miller is a great NFL Draft guy to follow for those wondering