Watson Undraftable

hoorta

@lbc-mike said:
He is a gamer. Played against best college defenses and came out with clutch wins when needed.

True enough- how much weight do you want to put on that though?

Mark O

@hoorta said:

True enough- how much weight do you want to put on that though?

hard to say...wasn't one of the knocks on Peyton Manning coming out of college was that he couldn't win big games? How did that turn out for everyone?

Tour2ma

@choco said:
Iirc, it's a timed pass, not radar.

Really? As in thrown thru paired electric eyes?

Tim Couch Pulls Out

@mark-o said:

hard to say...wasn't one of the knocks on Peyton Manning coming out of college was that he couldn't win big games? How did that turn out for everyone?

Everyone didn't get a chance to draft him - he still went first overall.

Manning also succeeded because he's an extremely cerebral quarterback with an NFL QB for a father and an American football supercomputer for a brain. And it doesn't hurt that he's 6'5" and has a decently powerful arm (a general ball velocity in the upper 50's IIRC).

choco

@tour2ma said:

Really? As in thrown thru paired electric eyes?

There was some debate, but it appears it is measure via radar according to Outlands.com....Only things I've found so far.

Tour2ma

@choco said:
There was some debate, but it appears it is measure via radar according to Outlands.com....Only things I've found so far.

Ourlads running the whole show using a Juggs gun was what I read a little bit ago. That was the basis for my comment that the NFL needs to take this over if it's to be "a thing" with any importance attached to it.

You set up in a smaller space, let the QBs warm up, make five measured, 20-yd throws and publish the raw results... that day.

The week-long delay between the Combine measurement and publishing the data in a tweet or two makes no sense to me.

Mark O

@tim-couch-pulls-out said:

Everyone didn't get a chance to draft him - he still went first overall.

Manning also succeeded because he's an extremely cerebral quarterback with an NFL QB for a father and an American football supercomputer for a brain. And it doesn't hurt that he's 6'5" and has a decently powerful arm (a general ball velocity in the upper 50's IIRC).

I agree with all of that. Just was saying there were still knocks on him coming out for not winning in college.

TexasAg1969

I agree Tour and he's still Dak 2.0.

Tour2ma

@texasag1969 said:
I agree Tour and he's still Dak 2.0.

Wah? Watson is Dak 2.0? That kinda rambling will cost you your Dak Fan Club Charter Member status...

Mr. Make-Believe

I still like Trubisky, Watson and Peterman.

In that order and none of the other guys.

RoyceRolls

I cycled through about 5 different post combine mocks today, and almost all of them had Watson as the first QB selected, either by the Jets or the Browns. I think there was only one mock that had the Jets taking Trubisky as the first QB off the board. In that mock, the reference was a tweet from Allbright (the author of the spreadsheet referenced above) who asserted that the Jets want Trubisky. In all of the mocks, Kizer ended up with the Texans at 25, except one which had the Texans selecting Kizer at 57. Also, it appears that Mahomes is now being considered either the 2nd or 3rd QB, as a majority of the mocks had him going in the early teens, commonly to the Cardinals, once to the Saints at 32.

One of the write-ups expresses how impressed teams were with Watson's interview process. There was an anonymous nfl official cited who went as far to say that Deshaun was as impressive as any prospect he had ever met with, including Peyton Manning. If all of that is true, that's the kind of report that would take a little bit of the sting off of a Watson selection at 12. While I'd still prefer to take a chance that one of the top 4 Qbs will fall out of the first round completely. I know Kizer isn't very popular around here, but I'd still much rather have Kizer in the 2nd, than any of the others in the first.

Tour2ma

lol... this time of year you can and will find every evaluation/opinion on every player possible... excepting the select few, "elite" prospects.

List those about which you've not heard a dissenting opinion...

Myles Garrett
Jamal Adams
Marshon Latimore

Am I missing anyone?

RoyceRolls

Solomon Thomas is shaping up as a close to consensus #2 pick after the combine.

choco

@tour2ma said:

lol... this time of year you can and will find every evaluation/opinion on every player possible... excepting the select few, "elite" prospects.

List those about which you've not heard a dissenting opinion...

Myles Garrett

Jamal Adams

Marshon Latimore

Am I missing anyone?

Even lattinore came in heavy...Called it water weight.

TexasAg1969

@tour2ma said:

Wah? Watson is Dak 2.0? That kinda rambling will cost you your Dak Fan Club Charter Member status...

LOL! So you are afraid to jump on the Watson train this year huh? Leaving the station soon. He may not be great but he will be better than the rest in this draft. Guy is a winner in the clutch. The rest of them cave.

Tour2ma

@choco said:
Even lattinore came in heavy...Called it water weight.

OK... sub Solomon for Marshon and call it "point made"...

Seems extra crazy this year. I'm not sure I'm going to make it draft day before my head explodes...

Tour2ma

@texasag1969 said:

LOL! So you are afraid to jump on the Watson train this year huh? Leaving the station soon. He may not be great but he will be better than the rest in this draft. Guy is a winner in the clutch. The rest of them cave.

lol... different stories was my point.

Dak started low and did nothing but rise as far as everything football was concerned. Only hiccup was the non-football, DUI thing which... being so far out of character... was easy for me to dismiss.

Watson on the other hand's been a fuckin' yo-yo...

Like him early in the season... then not so much... then he closed strong and had a great Combine... now he can't throw the ball thru tissue paper...

He's just too damn hard to like... let alone love.

Plus it's hard to be a dark-horse when you start with a 1st-round grade...

jcam222

I still can't see a first round or even 2nd if his accurate velocity is truly 49 mph. If in over 10 years Tyrod and Glennon are the only noodle arms at 49 I think you have to pass. He may be cerebral as hell but that may mean he's a coach.

TexasAg1969

OK Tour-I got it. But I liked Dak before he slipped into the 4th because of the DUI. He might have been a pale horse who dropped into dark horse territory. Watson is just the only QB I see who has a chance to be one of those really good starters. The rest I see as either less talented or, even worse, chokers. So he's the only horse I can find in this race this year.

jiggins7919

Here's what I wonder: Did Watson even know about this velocity metric? Was he throwing as hard as he normally does, or was he just tuning it down to ensure accuracy to receivers he's never thrown to before? I mean, he had to know this was being measured, right? Wouldn't surprise me to see this being measured at his pro day, and wouldn't surprise me if he throws much harder. I don't remember Watson ever having a "gun", but I also don't remember his power being an issue either.

Edit: I just watched some highlights of Watson, and while I understand "highlights" aren't exactly a good representation of a player's ability, the film did at least show multiple throws with plenty of zip. Obviously I don't have a radar gun app for Youtube, but I can tell you the arm definitely passes the "eye test". Conversely, I did notice several throws that Watson kind of "lollypops" up in the air, but these were deep throws that enabled his receiver to get underneath. Whenever I saw a throw over the middle, the ball got there promptly.