WR Sammy Watkins - Kansas City Chiefs

6-1, 211

Born: 6-14-1993

College: Clemson

Drafted: Round 1, pick 2014

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Photo: Charles LeClaire, US Presswire

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News you need to know

From the upgrade/downgrade report (Mon Dec 2): So it has come to this for Watkins, a zero against the Raiders. The conditions and game script are partially to blame, but it will be very difficult to play him against the Patriots this week. He might be droppable in deep leagues.

Week 14: at New England Patriots

All WR vs NE

FBG says: Bad matchup. If you look at the score last week you might think Patrick Mahomes had one of his quintessential days of throwing for 400 yards in a dominating performance as the Chiefs won 40-7. However, it was the exact opposite for the Chiefs this past week as Mahomes completed just 52% of his passes and threw for just 175 yards. What is interesting is that Mahomes in non-injury games has thrown for less than 240 yards just twice in his career and both of those games were in the past two weeks as he threw for 175 yards last week and 182 yards in Week 11. While both performances were wins, the problem in Kansas City has been their receiving group outside of Tyreek Hill. Last week not a single receiver caught a pass besides Hill, and in the game against the Chargers in which he left early due to injury, Sammy Watkins led the receiving group with just two receptions for 26 yards. With both Damien Williams and Darrell Williams out in the running game, the Chiefs are going to desperately need another player to step up whether it is Watkins, Mecole Hardman, or another player such as Byron Pringle. For the first time all season, the Patriots secondary looked a step slow compared to the Texans. While statistically, they held the Texans to just 235 yards passing, they did allow four touchdowns including a 35-yard passing touchdown to Kenny Stills. The Patriots had a rough week as Jason McCourty was out, and the team had the flu circling through their locker room keeping several players out of practice this week, and they did look much better in the second half of the game after half-time adjustments. This was just a game in which they did not come out and perform to their standard, but the overall story is that this is still the best passing defense in football as they have allowed just one quarterback to throw for over 250 yards which was to Ben Roethlisberger in Week 1. It is a very disciplined team that all know their role led by Stephon Gilmore and the safeties Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon. If they get Jason McCourty back this week, it will minimize their one weakness which has been J.C. Jackson and allow him back to his normal slot position.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	RSH	YD	TD	TARG	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
10	at TEN		63	2	12	0	9	5.0	39	0	0	5.1
11	at LAC		56	0	0	0	3	2.0	26	0	0	2.6
13	vs OAK		41	0	0	0	3	0.0	0	0	0	0
14	at NE	PROJ-Dodds	*	0	*	*		3.6	*	*	*	*
14	at NE	PROJ-Tremblay	*	0	*	*		4.2	*	*	*	*
14	at NE	PROJ-Bloom	*	0	*	*		2.0	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs WR 1, WR 12, WR 24, WR 36

Percentile ranks

Sammy Watkins's percentile rank in each category, among WR with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 13 vs OAK (3 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

Watkins was a target at the goal line on a long throw early. He was possibly interfered with to slow him down but the call was upheld. He dropped one pass coming back to the ball on third and long and was a nonfactor, looking a step slow and beat behind.

2019 Week 11 vs LAC (3 / 2 / 26 / 0 rec)

Sammy Watkins caught two passes for 26 yards on three targets in the Chiefs win over the Chargers on Monday night. Even with Hill leaving the game early in the first half, Watkins did not see the targets that you would expect as the #1 receiver in the Chiefs offense. Outside of week one, Watkins does not have a touchdown or game with more than 65 receiving yards, a puzzling stat considering his quarterback as well as the talent surrounding him. If Hill were to miss time, Watkins becomes an auto-play, yet barring that, Watkins can only be depended on for his rather mediocre floor.

2019 Week 10 vs TEN (9 / 5 / 39 / 0 rec, 2 / 12 / 0 rush)

Sammy Watkins caught five of nine targets for 39 yards while also rushing two times for 12 yards in the Chiefs loss to the Titans on Sunday. Watkins nine targets were second only to Hill's 19, but he still finished fifth on the team in receiving yards. In theory, Watkins should benefit from the presence of Hill and Kelce, however it is becoming more plausible that Watkins is the one giving the help, not receiving it. Watkins has been primarily running short and intermediate routes on the outside, while Kelce is controlling the middle of the field and Hill is handling most of the deep routes, as well as some shorter screens and drag routes. Watkins has maintained a fairly steady floor, catching at least five passes in six of his seven games this season. With that said, it looks as though any big game is going to be the exception, not the rule for Watkins this year, as he has not recorded a touchdown catch since week one...where he finished with three touchdown receptions.

2019 Week 9 vs MIN (10 / 7 / 63 / 0 rec)

Sammy Watkins caught seven of 10 targets for 63 yards in the Chiefs win over the Vikings on Sunday. Watkins has consistently been heavily targeted this season, although most of his targets come in the short and intermediate passing game, and he has become something of a possession receiver for an offense that already has a player running deep routes in Hill. Watkins has stepped up to the plate, making tough grabs while using his size to gain separation off the line of scrimmage. Six of Watkins 10 targets came on first down, a sign that the Chiefs are trying to use him as a target that can set up advantageous situations on second and third down. This is especially important with the way the Chiefs running game was cut off for most of this game. While it won't result in the type of games that he put up in week one, Watkins has a solid floor, and it should only get better with Mahomes back at quarterback.

2019 Week 8 vs GB (8 / 5 / 45 / 0 rec)

Sammy Watkins caught five of eight targets for 45 yards in the Chiefs loss to the Packers on Sunday night. Watkins returned in this game from a hamstring injury and was given a full slate of snaps (86%) and a bevy of targets, tying Kelce for the second most, and one behind Hill. Unfortunately, those targets were pretty vanilla plays where Watkins was looked to in the short passing game on comebacks, shallow crossing routes and slants. Watkins did have one deep target and he was able to make a big catch for 25 yards and take the Chiefs from the Packers 46 yard line down to the their 21 yard line. This play played a big part in setting up Williams touchdown run. Watkins is seeing a solid volume of targets and as we saw in week one, he is capable of erupting for a big game, especially with defenses focused on the immense talent surround him. It will be hard to say when that will come though, and in the meantime Watkins is #3 wide receiver with a solid floor in PPR formats.

2019 Week 5 vs IND (0 / 0 / 0 / 0 rec)

Watkins came into the game against the Colts with a questionable tag (shoulder injury) and ended up injuring his hamstring on the Chiefs first drive. He did not record a catch before leaving the game. At this time, he is questionable for this Sunday's game against the Texans.

2019 Week 4 vs DET (6 / 3 / 54 / 0 rec)

Watkins caught three passes for 54 yards on six targets in the Chiefs win over the Lions on Sunday. It was the first game that Watkins did not lead (or tie for the lead) in targets from Mahomes this season. With Slay out for Detroit, Watkins had a great opportunity to put up big numbers, but Detroit's backup corners played him very well. This was especially true in the red zone where Watkins had three targets but could not convert on any of them. Watkins also had a fumble for the second straight game, but this was the first one he lost on the season.

2019 Week 3 vs BAL (8 / 5 / 64 / 0 rec)

Watkins caught five passes for 64 yards on eight targets in the Chiefs win over the Ravens on Sunday. Watkins led the Chiefs in targets for the third straight game, but unlike in week one, Watkins has not caught a touchdown pass the last two weeks. Those passes have gone to Hardman and Robinson, although it should be said that Watkins once again played a big part in confusing the defense on one of those touchdowns. While Hardman scored the 83 yard touchdown, it was Watkins who came in motion prior to the pass, and that motion played a big part in the Ravens leaving Hardman free to streak down the field open. Watkins continues to see a high volume of targets, so it won't be long before he gets back into the endzone.

2019 Week 2 vs OAK (13 / 6 / 49 / 0 rec)

Sammie Watkins caught six passes on 13 targets for 49 yards in the Chiefs win over the Raiders on Sunday. After setting the NFL on fire in week one, Watkins came down to earth against a Raiders secondary that was hell bent on shutting him down and allowing every other Chiefs receiver to run free all over the field. It was hardly Watkins fault that he attracted double coverage from the Raiders safety, especially over the top, but it was still shocking to see him finish with one more target than Robinson and Hardman combined, only with four less catches, 84 less yards and three less touchdowns. Watkins was essentially a decoy in this game, and Mahomes kept that going by targeting him often in the short passing game, while looking him off to go deep to his other receivers in single coverage. This was apparent on Robinson's first touchdown catch, as he ran straight down the field uncovered while the defense was shading coverage toward Kelce and Watkins. Going forward, Watkins won't attract this much attention when it is clear that the Chiefs have plenty of other pieces that can take advantage of this type of coverage.

2019 Week 1 vs JAX (11 / 9 / 198 / 3 rec)

Watkins caught nine passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, striking fear in the Jaguars secondary every time he touched the ball. Watkins has always been thought of as having the natural talent to be a #1 receiver, which speaks to his speed, athleticism and strong hands. His problems were not of the football variety, but more his inability to stay healthy for long periods of time. In the Chiefs offense, Watkins is a luxury that matches up with opposing #2 cornerbacks, and that usually leads to one on one coverage. Watkins has a very solid season in his first year with the Chiefs in 2018, but there was an underlying thought that Watkins still had so much more to offer the Chiefs, which would have taken the offense to a completely new level, a scary thought when you have a third year MVP at quarterback and the architect of the NFL's best offense. If week one is any indication of where the Chiefs are heading, and what role Watkins is going to play in getting them there, then sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It did not take Watkins long to set the party off for Kansas City, all of two plays actually. With the Chiefs facing a third and three from their own 32 yard line, Mahomes took the snap out of the Shotgun formation and pump faked to the right side before going through his progressions. After pumping to the left side, Mahomes hit Watkins over the middle at the Chiefs 40 yard line. Watkins primary defender tried to jump the route but was late getting to the ball, allowing Watkins to turn the ball up-field. At the time of Watkins catching the ball, he is surrounded in a circle by six Jaguars defenders with only DeMarcus Robinson as a capable blocker. That wasn't a problem for Houdini Watkins though, as he cut up the field and juked two Jaguars defenders out of their shoes while expertly using Robinson's block to create an angle where the Jaguars defenders could not catch him on his way to a 68 yard touchdown. Watkins next touchdown catch came with the Chiefs facing a first and 10 from the 50 yard line. Mahomes took the snap under center with four receivers bunched in the slot on both sides, Mahomes play-action faked to Williams in the backfield and then looked off the Jaguars safeties with his eyes, drawing coverage to the left side of the field. Mahomes waited for Watkins to run a shallow crossing route from the left to the right, only the played called for Watkins to turn upfield at its apex, similar to a wheel-route. It was a genius level play call by Reid, as by the time Watkins had turned up field, there was not a Jaguar defender within 10 yards of him and a perfect lob pass made it an easy 50 yard touchdown for Watkin's second of the day. Watkins finished his day with a third touchdown catch from Mahomes, this time from three yards out with the Chiefs facing a second and goal. Mahomes took the snap out of the shotgun, directing McCoy to motion to the left side of the formation before snapping the ball. On the right side, Watkins was lined up out wide and ran a quick drag to the middle of the field before stopping on a dime and pivoting hard to the right side of the end zone. It is a route that Travis Kelce has been using his size/speed combination to kill his defenders with the last two seasons, and Watkins performed the route in a similar fashion. Watkins quick cut gave him a step on his defender and then Mahomes threw a perfect pass out away to the sideline, which allowed Watkins to use his length to snag the touchdown catch without his defender having a chance to make a play on the ball.

Latest News

Chiefs | Sammy Watkins blanked (Mon Dec 2, 01:39 AM) - Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins did not record a catch on three targets in Week 13 against the Oakland Raiders.

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Chiefs | Sammy Watkins should play (Fri Nov 29, 05:13 PM) - Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins (illness) fully participated in practice Friday, Nov. 29, and is not on the injury report for Week 13.

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Chiefs | Kansas City's Week 13 injury report (Fri Nov 29, 04:09 PM) - Kansas City Chiefs RB Damien Williams (rib) was unable to practice all week and has been ruled out for Week 13 against the Oakland Raiders. WR Sammy Watkins (illness) was upgraded to a full practice Friday, Nov. 29, and has been removed from the injury report. DT Derrick Nnadi (elbow), TE Blake Bell (ankle), CB Kendall Fuller (thumb), WR Tyreek Hill (hamstring), S Jordan Lucas (shoulder), QB Patrick Mahomes (knee), DE Alex Okafor (ankle) and OT Mitchell Schwartz (knee) participated in full all week and no longer appear on the injury report.

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Chiefs | Sammy Watkins back on practice field (Fri Nov 29, 01:53 PM) - Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins (illness) returned to practice Friday, Nov. 29, after sitting out the previous day with an illness.

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Chiefs | Sammy Watkins sits with illness (Thu Nov 28, 04:51 PM) - Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins (illness) did not participate in practice Thursday, Nov. 28.

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