A receiver ... or receivers ... who fight for contested passes, who are fearless about the middle of the field ... who go after the football at its highest point ... who treat every football in the air as theirs ... create a level of comfort in quarterbacks that is very, very difficult to quantify.
Confidence, as it is virtually everywhere on the planet, is a core of playing professional football. And for a quarterback to have confidence in a receiver ... or receivers ... is vital to that quarterback becoming comfortable in what he is doing.
Not having to be perfect on every throw ... not feeling as though every throw has to be perfectly timed and placed ... creates that level of comfort. Ask Kurt Warner what having Larry Fitzgerald (and Anquan Boldin) did for HIM the last four or five years of his career. Not putting Watkins on Fitz' level at this point ... but Watkins is cut from that same cloth as Boldin. He contests everything.
For those who come here to post and who really WANT Jared Goff to succeed ... you know who that *doesn't* include ... having a receiver the quality of Sammie Watkins is a major addition.
If Goff cannot get it done with a healthy Watkins ... I will begin to reverse my opinion of the kid. It's gonna take awhile ... maybe 'til mid-season ... but Watkins is that ... dern ... good.
