Rams may already have a potential Sammy Watkins replacement on the roster
Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Sammy Watkins was hardly impressive in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams. In 15 games, he caught 39 passes for 590 yards and eight touchdowns, struggling to find his footing in Sean McVay’s “spread it around” offense.

After being acquired for a second-round pick and E.J. Gaines, Watkins was expected to be Jared Goff’s go-to guy. Obviously, that never came to fruition and now the 24-year-old receiver is set to become a free agent in March.

Sean McVay said on Wednesday that bringing Watkins back is “definitely something we want to do,” but he led that comment with a caveat: “If we can make that work.”


Does that signal Watkins’ departure is on the horizon? Hardly. McVay made it clear that “it’s so important to get him back,” but it’s going to take some salary cap work to make it happen. Watkins is the top free-agent wide receiver in 2018 and the franchise tag will cost the Rams more than $16 million.

If the Rams were to let Watkins walk, which is definitely a possibility, they’d have to replace him somehow. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are firmly entrenched as the top receivers right now, but so much of the Rams’ offense is built upon 11 personnel: one running back, one tight end and three receivers on the field.

No team ran more plays out of that grouping than the Rams in 2017, so having three strong receivers is crucial to their success. That’s what makes losing Watkins so difficult to fathom.

What if the Rams already had a potential replacement for him on the roster, though? Numbers would suggest they don’t, but Josh Reynolds is a wildly intriguing prospect after having such a quiet rookie season.


Great job by Rams rookie WR Josh Reynolds to crash down and open up a huge lane for Todd Gurley. pic.twitter.com/IHTyXdutKx

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) December 10, 2017

If you listen to what Les Snead and McVay are saying about Reynolds, too, you’ll begin to realize he’s a big part of their future.

“We were very impressed with Josh. Fortunately, we had a deep receiving crew that for the most part was healthy,” Snead said at the combine on Thursday. “But throughout the year at Texas A&M, there was a few things he did at practice, and even in games, where you’re like, ‘Wow, OK. That’s the Josh Reynolds that we saw go up and make catches against good players in college football.’

“So he can ‘wow’ you with some of those catches, so very excited about him no matter who the first three receivers are.”

McVay had similarly great things to say about Reynolds on Wednesday, too.

“You look at when Robert Woods got hurt, it allowed Josh to step up and I thought he made some key conversions against New Orleans in a big win that we needed to have,” McVay said. “He’s a guy that has all the traits and characteristics. He’s wired to separate, great catch radius. We’re excited about Josh moving forward into next year.”


Talk is cheap, but it’s obvious the Rams like what they have in Reynolds, whom they spent a fourth-round pick on last year. His 11 catches for 104 yards and one touchdown won’t excite anyone, but he was merely a role player on a team that strictly stuck to three-wide receiver sets.

It’s Reynolds’ skill set and physical traits that make him so intriguing. At 6-foot-3, 194 pounds, Reynolds isn’t the stockiest or strongest receiver out there. In fact, one of the knocks on him coming out of Texas A&M was that his frame looked wiry and thin. He didn’t exactly seek contact in college, but his height allows him to succeed in other ways.

As a red zone target, he boasts the ideal size and length. We didn’t get to see that in Year 1, but if Watkins were to leave, Reynolds would immediately become the team’s best red zone threat.

As for his speed, he may not have ran well at the combine (4.52 40-yard dash), but he plays faster than that time indicates. As a long-strider, he’s deceptively fast, though he doesn’t have great short-area quickness.

But that’s not his strength, which is fine. He’s someone who can win downfield on deep passes, winning 50-50 balls by elevating over defenders.


The best part about potentially promoting Reynolds to the starting lineup if Watkins were to leave is his tiny cap hit. He’ll count just $717,006 against the cap in 2018, which is infinitely lower than Watkins’ possible $16 million charge under the franchise tag.

That would free up the Rams to sign outside free agents and ensure that someone like Lamarcus Joyner gets paid.

No one’s suggesting Reynolds is better or even equal to Watkins, but the Rams are obviously high on him and the cap savings would be significant.