I can understand why they signed him. I might have taken a shot at him too. The guy is a slightly bigger version of Telvin Smith. At his pro day he ran a 4.40 and throughout the draft process stayed in the 4.4s and 4.5s. He is fast and is exactly what Bradley wants. But there are plenty of guys in the NFL with superior physical talent but don't seem to have it between the ears. That may be Watson.
I remember reading something last week, on twitter IIRC, right after they promoted JT Thomas to the starter at OTTO that said Watson was still making too many mental errors. Whether this is because he missed so much time due to his injury or not I'm not sure, but it's pretty disappointing. Lageman was raving about him.
I thought he did well in pre-season in the limited reps he got.
IIRC, he had like 2 sacks.
Hopefully by midway through the year, our LBs are Watson - Poz - Hayes (Smith) and playing better.
Quote:I remember reading something last week, on twitter IIRC, right after they promoted JT Thomas to the starter at OTTO that said Watson was still making too many mental errors. Whether this is because he missed so much time due to his injury or not I'm not sure, but it's pretty disappointing. Lageman was raving about him.
That is why i find this situation a little weird. Everybody thought he was wonderful and now he is no where to be found. Were the people loving him just being homers?
Quote:I think you should provide a definition of what you would call a "bust".
I wouldn't label Watson a bust yet, but, to be fair, Caldwell did sign him on the second day of free agency. That shows that Watson was a guy that Caldwell wanted and specifically targeted as soon as free agency started. Its not like a couple weeks went by and he was still there so Caldwell said "boy, can't pass this up if he's still there. Might as well take a shot and see what we can get." Caldwell specifically targeted Watson as one of his priorities for the free agency period. I don't think a 4-12 team that looked as devoid of talent as this team did last year targets a guy specifically to fill the role that Watson's been filling so far, or at least they shouldn't be targeting guys in the first few days/hours of free agency to fill the role that Watson has. The contract may not be for as much as usually associated with "bust," but given the circumstances around Watson's signing, if he doesn't find his way into the starting linebacker role by at least midway through next season, I wouldn't hesitate to call him a bust.
Midway through next season? If he's not back in the starting lineup and playing well later on this season, he was a waste. Didn't he get a fairly sizable contract for an unknown quantity?
Quote:Midway through next season? If he's not back in the starting lineup and playing well later on this season, he was a waste. Didn't he get a fairly sizable contract for an unknown quantity?
No. He makes 1.5 million this year.
Quote:I can understand why they signed him. I might have taken a shot at him too. The guy is a slightly bigger version of Telvin Smith. At his pro day he ran a 4.40 and throughout the draft process stayed in the 4.4s and 4.5s. He is fast and is exactly what Bradley wants. But there are plenty of guys in the NFL with superior physical talent but don't seem to have it between the ears. That may be Watson.
Sometimes that's what it comes down to. You need a certain level of athleticism, but if you're slow at diagnosing plays because you lack instinct and football intelligence, you'll be constantly reacting and in bad position as a result.
It would be awesome to have a player or two in the back 7 who just knows where to be at all times. I don't even care about making "big plays" at this point - just get some bodies who won't let WR's be 10-15 yards open.