Sammy Watkins – On To The Next Level
The decision to declare for the 2014 NFL draft was a no-brainer for Clemson star wide
receiver Sammy Watkins. A dominant college career has established Watkins as one of
the premier prospects in the nation at receiver. Tigers’ fans will miss the junior’s game
breaking talent, but all college fans get used to watching their star players depart
season after season. There’s no question that it is time for Watkins to test his
undeniable talent at the very highest level.
Clemson’s crushing Orange Bowl victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes offered a pretty
firm reminder of just how good Watkins could be. He broke the previous Orange Bowl
record finishing with 227 yards of
offense on 16 catches while also
picking up a pair of touchdowns.
The Buckeyes’ secondary may have
been depleted, but Watkins’ highlight
loaded performance still
demonstrated everything that is good
about the Florida native’s game. He
made some big time plays, showed
strength to break through and hold
on against tackles, and of course
showed off that elite level
acceleration.
The importance and benefit to
Watkins in having such a strong
postseason performance cannot and
should not be under-estimated. A
mediocre display two years ago in
the same game against the West
Virginia Mountaineers, where
Clemson were on the end of a 70-33 demolition, was a slight taint on Watkins’ otherwise
virtually flawless college career. He now has a dominant, record breaking postseason
performance to go along with his impressive regular season statistics.
Watkins could hardly enter his draft year with more eye opening statistics. He finished
the season with 12 touchdown catches to along with more than 1,400 yards of offense.
His biggest strength is probably coming off the screen, and he completed enough big
plays during the course of the season to catch plenty of national attention. It’s difficult to
separate Watkins from his quarterback Tajh Boyd in terms of who had the bigger impact
for Clemson’s offense. However, there is less argument regarding which player has the
higher probability of enjoying success at NFL level.
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