Cornerbacks are pressing Sammy Watkins, and it's working
Cameron DaSilva
[
theramswire.usatoday.com]
When healthy, Sammy Watkins is viewed as one of the premier wide receivers in the NFL. He was a monster at Clemson and had 1,047 yards in just 13 games two years ago, leading the Rams to trade for him during training camp.
Through seven weeks, Watkins hasn’t met expectations in L.A. with just 18 catches in seven games, averaging a career-low 14.7 yards per catch. He only has two games with more than four catches and has seen just 29 passes come his way.
So what’s happened to the former top-five pick? It’s a combination of things, but teams have devised a way to slow him down. According to Next Gen Stats, Watkins only has an average cushion of 4.3 yards at the line of scrimmage.
That’s the fourth-lowest total among all players in the NFL with just Marvin Jones, DeVante Parker and Mohamed Sanu seeing smaller cushions at the line of scrimmage. You might be wondering what that means.
Well, in layman’s terms, it means cornerbacks are playing Watkins very tight at the start of his routes. It may not always result in the defender pressing him at the line, but they’re not giving him much room to run from the get-go.
Usually, this happens to the more physical receivers in the NFL. It’s why Julio Jones, Rob Gronkowski, Michael Crabtree and Alshon Jeffery all have average cushions under 4.7, ranking in the top 10 in that department.
Just take a look at how Jalen Ramsey plays Watkins at the top of the screen. He presses him and Watkins isn’t able to get a good release off the line.
You can see Patrick Peterson take a similar approach in last week’s game, too. Goff looks Watkins’ way, but sees that he hasn’t beaten Peterson off the line and goes elsewhere with the ball.
This isn’t out of the ordinary for cornerbacks. Press-man coverage happens all the time. However, it doesn’t typically happen against perceived deep threats like Watkins – guys who can beat a defense over the top.
If you look at the receivers who get the largest cushions on average, you’ll see a trend: Tyreek Hill (7.8), Martavis Bryant (7.7), Travis Benjamin (7.5), Torrey Smith (7.2) and the list goes on. All of those guys have great speed.
Watkins can run well, too – he ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the Combine – but teams aren’t respecting him as a downfield threat as much as they used to. For instance, last season, Watkins was seeing 5.6 yards of cushion on average, which is more in the “middle of the pack,” so to speak.
It may not seem like a lot, but teams are being physical with Watkins at the line of scrimmage, and he’s having trouble separating. In fact, he only creates an average of 2.5 yards of separation, which is below-average.
The Rams have tried to combat this trend by moving him inside on plays, making it more difficult for corners to press him — and at times, it works. This was against zone coverage, but you can see how far off the cornerback is playing Watkins.
Watkins has been wildly inconsistent this season, which should be concerning for the Rams. He’s having trouble getting open against man coverage, forcing Goff to look elsewhere.
He’s the best big-play receiver L.A. has, but he’s not being treated as such.
