"Production" for a receiver is tough to measure.

I'd say it's completely relative, contingent and next to impossible for fans to accurately assess. We can approximate. But we can't be sure who really has been "productive," given the circumstances.

Why? Because we're not able to see, via TV, all the routes, all the times a receiver is open or not, all the times the QB throws to someone else even with a wide-open receiver and so on. We don't get to always see why this or that receiver is targeted, and why this or that receiver is not. We see some fragments of the whys and wherefores, but never the whole deal. And even teams with "coach's film" and daily practices are going to miss a lot of things, because we humans aren't omnipotent, or without biases, favorites, erratic emotions, etc. etc. Other factors like salaries and when a person is drafted kick in as well.

Bottom line for me? Receiver is just one of those positions that depends far too much on luck. A receiver can't call his own shots. He can't force his way into being productive. He's on the receiving end of things, not the initiator, and at the mercy of the QB, the coach, the call.

So when some fans bash Watkins for his supposed lack of production, I just think of all the times it appears he wasn't even targeted, when even from the limits of the TV he looks open. He obviously can't accrue catches, yardage and TDs if Goff won't throw to him.

Reminds me of another punching bag for some fans: Brian Quick. IMO, he was (ridiculously) underused, rarely targeted, poorly coached, and then summarily dumped. I think the kid could have been very "productive" if they had bothered to actually throw him the ball more often. Of course, Sammy is more talented than BQ, but he, too, has been underused by a much, much better coaching staff. I can easily imagine Brian Quick, if he had been coached by this staff from his rookie year on as a very successful receiver, and still a Ram.

Anyway . . . . my own hope is that the Rams re-sign SW. He's just 24 this year and still has upside. No one on the team is a better combo of size, speed, hands and toughness, and his like won't be found later in the draft. I don't want the Rams to spend a first on a wideout. They need to draft the best rush-backer, CB or OT instead. Keep Sammy and next year the Rams offense is even better. Let him go and they don't have a speed guy to stretch the defense.

He'll be just as "productive" as the QB, coach and play call allow.