Chiefs Sammy Watkins is Wig – businessinsider.com says “Wig” refers to something happening that is so amazing, it makes your wig fly off. Sammy Watkins had that wig effect on me several times in the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs season and those big wig moments are reason enough to not only keep him on the roster, but see his value as critical to their success moving forward. Here’s one of those big wig moments that I waited a lifetime for:
There’s no bigger moment in Chiefs recent history than the moment they won Super Bowl LIV. Right behind that is probably the moment above. Now, some will argue that “Do we have time to run Wasp” ranks right up there with 65 Toss Power Trap and I would not disagree, for the most part. However, Otis Taylor’s catch and run down the sidelines of Super Bowl IV was just as important, but receives much less credit, because Hank Stram wasn’t yelling out the play like he did for 65 Toss Power Trap.
The same might be said for the catch Sammy Watkins made when he beat the “invincible” CB Richard Sherman. No, it wasn’t a TD like Taylor’s catch, but it turned the tide for sure. Plus, Watkins had seen the Green Bay Packers WR, Davante Adams, beat Sherman while doing some film study, in which Adams beat him on an inside move. So Watkins gave him the same shimmy-shake and beat him for a 37-yard gain. It was also the play that lead to the go ahead TD — a Mahomes to Damien Williams pass where he scored at the pylon — so Watkins provided the Chiefs with a momentum shift that the 49ers never recovered from. Here’s that glorious wig moment:
It’s funny, during the Super Bowl, on that specific play, I remember keeping my eyes on the Watkins/Sherman matchup the whole play from beginning to end and there was a moment in the middle when I was screaming — in my head, “Sammy is open!!!” — but, before I could even finish the mental thought, Mahomes was pitching the most perfect pass ever. I knew, from that moment, that the rest was a formality and that the 49ers prematurely posing in the end zone after an earlier INT of Patrick Mahomes — as if they had just won the game — was all folderol.
Sammy is Not Mecole, Mecole is Not Sammy
Some fans lately have confused the value of Mecole Hardman with that of Sammy Watkins. Mecole is a very good player in his own right, but he currently doesn’t have the moves that Watkins has. Hardman may be fast but Watkins combines speed and moves to get open. There was never a time during this offseason, before Sammy restructured with the Chiefs, that I thought Hardman could just replace Watkins. While he may have to do that at some point, he would not present the same challenges that Watkins does for defenses. As an example, I seriously doubt Hardman could get open against Sherman, as Watkins did in SB LIV.
The first wig moment for Watkins this year was his game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 season opener.
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On this play, you can see that Watkins has the maneuverability that makes him a dangerous target. His combination of speed and lateral quickness means other teams must guard him closely on every play, perhaps even dedicating their best CB to him like the 49ers did in the Super Bowl. Which, of course, leaves Tyreek Hill to do his best Tasmanian Devil routine on the league’s best defenses… and now teams must worry about Mecole Hardman’s field stretching ability and Demarcus Robinson second sense when Mahomes breaks out of the pocket. Watkins, makes each of them much better because he does tie up a top defender. It’s a trickle down theory and so, Watkins is the expression of what you could call: Reid-o-nomics.
While Sammy Watkins has provided us with some, “OMG, he just blew my wig off” moments, he has also been criticized for his lack of regular season production. Watkins has gained 217 fewer yards in two seasons — 2018 and 2019 — as a Chiefs WR, than Tyreek Hill did in one year, 2018. However, the DC’s of the league don’t plan on covering what a player, can’t do, but what he, can do. Watkins averaged 1,014 yards over his first two years in the league and that’s what other teams have to guard against… Sammy going off.
If you recall, Tyreek Hill was pretty much shut down in the Chiefs January of 2019 AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots. Why? Because the Pats not only played man coverage 80% of that game but used a two tier method of bracketing Hill. One high and one low. Hill had one catch in that game. Sure, Watkins played in that contest as well, but he was ineffective at getting to the end zone finishing with 4 catches for 114 yards. All Watkins fault? I think not, as Mahomes was only 16 of 31 and came away with a less than stellar performance.
Now however, Watkins knows his value and that he must assert himself if the Chiefs are to be successful. That’s the whole point, and one that I’m sure was not lost on Chiefs GM Brett Veach as the offseason began.
There’s a popular saying, one that Watkins has flipped on its head: There is no “I” in Team… but there is an “I” in Watkins but he chooses to to not act on it. If you get Watkins at all, he could be making more money with another team right now and he could be getting the WR #1 treatment as well.
I don’t agree with Mike Florio on much, but he and Chris Simms do this PFT (ProFootballTalk) Re-Draft on different positions and his take on the “Best No. 2 wide receivers in the NFL” was Sammy Watkins, and I couldn’t agree more (go the 2:00 minute mark for Florio’s take on Watkins).
An interesting piece of trivia came up the other day: the Chiefs have not lost a game when Sammy Watkins scores a TD. I’m not sure how much that matters because if a player who plays only one game in a year scores, and the team happens to win that game… does that really mean anything? Of course, not everyone feels the same way I do about Watkins or his value vs. Mecole Hardman’s:
So much of what happens on the field each week in the NFL is based upon reputation. Once Mecole Hardman solidifies his reputation as a field stretcher and a WR who can get open, he may enjoy the same number of snaps that Watkins is given. Especially in important games like Divisional Round Championship Games.
In the meantime, Sammy Watkins has made his name, in the playoffs mainly, enough to be considered the Chiefs #1B WR. More production in the regular season would be an added bonus and I expect that to happen this season, and so does Sammy. However, Watkins defers his personal goals to those of the team’s Super Bowl aspirations. Here’s a piece by 610 The Drive — a K.C. radio show — this week and they not only examine Watkins expectations for the year, but it includes three audio clips of Sammy:
I see the balance that Sammy Watkins brings to the Chiefs offense as necessary and critical to the team’s success in 2020. Plus, he has that, Blow Your Wig Off capability as well! That’s why I say… the Chiefs Sammy Watkins is Wig.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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