Jason Watkins: Possible LT candidate?

[Mahdi]

Was just looking at the moves Nix has made since signing on... One of them was to sign Jason Watkins who seems like an intriguing LT prospect.

Coming out he was considered a high potential OT, athletic, long arms, frame to add weight and versatile having played LT and RT for the Florida Gators.


At 6'6 325 he seems to fit Nix's mold for OL. Just a thought to put out there.

I am still convinced that Nix will not draft an OL high with the thought that he can get his guy in the later rounds, that guy being a run blocking LT with size.

[The Spaz]

A former tight end with two starts at the position in 2006, Watkins is one of the underrated tackle prospects in this draft. Watkins, who only played two years of high school football, was still recruited by many top programs. He established himself as one to watch as a junior, starting all 13 games at left tackle with the injury to Phil Trautwein. With Trautwein back at his customary left tackle position in 2008, Watkins was moved to the right side as a senior and didn't skip a beat. While still raw, scouts will be sure to consider Watkins' length, athleticism and versatility when looking for developmental left tackle prospects. Had an arm span of 34 3/8 inches and a hand span of 10 1/2 inches at the combine.

Positives: Tall, athletic left tackle build with long, well-built arms and quick feet. ... Can quickly position his body to cut off the back-side end, getting his hands on jersey numbers. ... Smooth runner getting into space on run plays or screens. ... Effective on block-downs, sealing the edge. ... Quickly gets to linebackers at the second level or downfield on crossing routes or outside runs. ... Good punch to stop defensive ends before they make a move. ... Will block two or three defenders as the play develops. ... Versatile with experience at left and right tackle, as well as tight end. Negatives: Waist-bender, lacking sufficient knee bend in pass protection. ... Does not have great lower-body bulk. ... Needs to improve his footwork in pass protection as he tends to lunge, depending too much on his punch. ... Stiff in the upper body, better running straight ahead in space than adjusting to incoming defenders. ... Must improve effectiveness hitting moving targets.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/jason-watkins?id=79659#tabs:tab-analysis

[Griz78]

I think he was rated as a 4th or 5th rounder last year. Him and Meredith still intrigue me.

[SirMcGee]

great. more projects. looking forward to see him flourish with another team after we won't give him more money.

[bigbub2352]

i am always interested in these type prospects, Olineman can come out of nowhere as we have all seen in the past....

He looks the part lets see what happens we need as much depth as we can get

[The Spaz]

I totally forgot about Watkins. FWIW Kiper had Meredith as the 8th best tackle in the draft and Watkins 20th.

[TigerJ]

I totally missed that signing.

[theanswer74]

Was just looking at the moves Nix has made since signing on... One of them was to sign Jason Watkins who seems like an intriguing LT prospect.

Coming out he was considered a high potential OT, athletic, long arms, frame to add weight and versatile having played LT and RT for the Florida Gators.


At 6'6 325 he seems to fit Nix's mold for OL. Just a thought to put out there.

I am still convinced that Nix will not draft an OL high with the thought that he can get his guy in the later rounds, that guy being a run blocking LT with size.

He was said to be athletic, but he laid an egg at his workouts, they were terrible.

Watkins will probably just be camp fodder.

Meredith is the only player on the team with LT ability. I never understood the love for Bell. Bell is weak and inexperienced.

[EDS]

Was just looking at the moves Nix has made since signing on... One of them was to sign Jason Watkins who seems like an intriguing LT prospect.

Coming out he was considered a high potential OT, athletic, long arms, frame to add weight and versatile having played LT and RT for the Florida Gators.


At 6'6 325 he seems to fit Nix's mold for OL. Just a thought to put out there.

I am still convinced that Nix will not draft an OL high with the thought that he can get his guy in the later rounds, that guy being a run blocking LT with size.

With this move I can now see why offensive tackle is not much of a need in the draft. Couple that with the very interesting nose tackles Nix has brought in, Lonnie Harvey in particular, and the Bills have a great deal of flexibility come draft time since their two main holes are filled.

You have to believe Nix holds Steve Johnson and James Hardy in very high regard given that he cleared out some veterans to open up playing time for these two intriquing prospects. They should be able to develop over the coming years nicely with Nix's find at QB, Brian Brohm.

Brohm will have a great deep threat to work with in Evans, a great red-zone target in Hardy and a super versatile do-it-all receiver in Johnson. Shawn Nelson should also help stretch the field like Dallas Clark does for Indy. Behind the revamped offensive line with Watkins and Cornell Green as the bookends, the offense should be much more explosive than last year with all the weapons at Chan Gailey's disposal.

The defense may need some additional tweaking, but with a massive frontline featuring Harvey and Stroud, the pass-rushing talent of Aaron Maybin, the steadiness of Poz and Mitchell on the inside, and a great defensive backfield, the defense isn't far off.

Really, the Bills only need some depth in the draft to fill out the roster, most of the pieces are already in place.

[YardRat]

That's a great piece of sarcasm right there...

[Griz78]

With this move I can now see why offensive tackle is not much of a need in the draft. Couple that with the very interesting nose tackles Nix has brought in, Lonnie Harvey in particular, and the Bills have a great deal of flexibility come draft time since their two main holes are filled.

You have to believe Nix holds Steve Johnson and James Hardy in very high regard given that he cleared out some veterans to open up playing time for these two intriquing prospects. They should be able to develop over the coming years nicely with Nix's find at QB, Brian Brohm.

Brohm will have a great deep threat to work with in Evans, a great red-zone target in Hardy and a super versatile do-it-all receiver in Johnson. Shawn Nelson should also help stretch the field like Dallas Clark does for Indy. Behind the revamped offensive line with Watkins and Cornell Green as the bookends, the offense should be much more explosive than last year with all the weapons at Chan Gailey's disposal.

The defense may need some additional tweaking, but with a massive frontline featuring Harvey and Stroud, the pass-rushing talent of Aaron Maybin, the steadiness of Poz and Mitchell on the inside, and a great defensive backfield, the defense isn't far off.

Really, the Bills only need some depth in the draft to fill out the roster, most of the pieces are already in place.

REALLY?

[EDS]

REALLY?


No, not at tall. But it got you excited about the team a little bit right?

[JCBills]

He was said to be athletic, but he laid an egg at his workouts, they were terrible.

Watkins will probably just be camp fodder.

Meredith is the only player on the team with LT ability. I never understood the love for Bell. Bell is weak and inexperienced.

Been saying this since we picked him up, don't sleep on Meredith.

He played extremely well in his limited time last season, granted it was only 251 snaps, but we won 5 of 8 games he played in, also winning 3 of the 4 games he started. Also looking at the teams he played against, he didn't exactly have walk-in-the-park matchups, he faced Peppers quite a bit (they tried to exploit the matchup), and played well.

He has everything needed to be an effective if not dominant LT. If you read all of the scouting reports, you can easily spot what they say his positives are during games, one of the biggest being his second level blocking. He also had a very strong combine showing, so athleticism and strength aren't really a question, it's a matter of him playing like he did over an extended period of time.

[TigerJ]

I get your nice bit of sarcasm, EDS. Very good, actually. We know that the Bills would be better off with proven talent in the areas you mention. However, some of the young guys may yet pan out. Yes, we try and obtain as much proven talent as we can, but we may need a few of the young guys to come through for the team where they can't fill all the holes. Of course, that's not to say the Bills will in fact obtain as much proven talent as they probably should.

[clumping platelets]

Jason Peters was an UDFA........no one thought he'd develop into a 2007 Pro Bowler. He's overrated now

[Buddo]

All it might mean, is that we only really need to draft one good LT prospect, as with his addition, there could be enough competition for depth, while these guys get themselves better able to perform, i.e the Merediths, Bells and Watkins.
I do like the fact that some of Nix's first moves, were to find guys who may be brought on to perform in the trenches, in areas of need.
It also seems that people brought in, are all scouted as having the necessary potential/ability to actually play those positions, given time.
As of yet, none of the moves look to be an actual 'fix' for issues at positions, but just a year or two down the line, they could be. 'Under the radar' guys they might be, but 'off the radar' they weren't.
I just believe that if nothing else, its a further sign that Nix knows what he's about.

[clumping platelets]

But that prospect does NOT need to be drafted at #9.............quality players can be found in the 2nd or 3rd rds

[don137]

I am not really interested in project players that take a few years to develop. The Bills roster is loaded with them. They eat up roster space and are not NFL ready. If they do become a true NFL talent and turn into a solid player more often than not they will leave for greener pastures within a year or two and the Bills just spent all this time grooming a player to contribute to another team.
I agree you can get solid players in the first three rounds that are not projects. The Bills need players not prospects. As Marv Levy says something along the lines of no word has gotten more coaches in trouble than a player with potential.

[EDS]

I get your nice bit of sarcasm, EDS. Very good, actually. We know that the Bills would be better off with proven talent in the areas you mention. However, some of the young guys may yet pan out. Yes, we try and obtain as much proven talent as we can, but we may need a few of the young guys to come through for the team where they can't fill all the holes. Of course, that's not to say the Bills will in fact obtain as much proven talent as they probably should.

The Bills have a long history of developing late round and undrafted free agents. Notables include: Jason Peters, Pat Williams, Jabari Greer, Howard Ballard and Fred Jackson.

So I do appreciate that the Bills have done will with such prospects. That is great. That said, the odds are stacked against these types of players and the Bills will be lucky if one of them emerges into something useful.

The Bills have done a horrible job of retaining talent in part due to their blundering ways in free agency and the draft over the past decade. That is the reason the team is so talent deficient at this point.

In saying all that, the point is that there needs to be some realism brought to the discussion, so my sarcasm was meant to bring the big picture into resolution.

I believe the Bills will draft a LT in round 1 or 2. I also believe, unless they land someone in the draft, Williams will be at nose tackle. Due to the new 3-4, as big a need as nose tackle is, they are also going to need DE depth, so that is an area I had hoped they would address in free agency, with a Jarvis Green type of player (i.e., borderline starter, good depth as a hedge against Spencer Johnson). McCargo is basically a complete unknown at this point, unfortunately.