Patrick Watkins Lost His Job Last Night ...

[BulletBob]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it during the game thread last night, but after checking the channel to make sure that I wasn't watching a Barney episode, during one of the overtly disturbing PDAs, the Tuna quite clearly told Keith Davis (after planting one on him), "You're my guy."

Now if you momentarily suspend your belief that the Tuna has had a sexual preference transplant (not that there's anything wrong with that), it appears as though in the wave of emotion, Big Bill was apologizing to Killer about the whole Watkins experiment, and that he'll never cheat on Keith again with a younger player.

All kidding aside, right, wrong, or indifferent, I don't think we'll be seeing much of Mr. Watkins any time soon. It's a shame, though, I was one of the guys pulling for this kid to blossom into an all-pro FS ...

... not that I want to start dating him or anything.

[Dangerous Dave]

I'm not writing Pat off. I think his future is still promising.

[FLCowboyFan]

I think he will start next year. It was just too early for Watkins and the game is moving too fast for him this year.

[superpunk]

I think all Davis needed to do to wrest the job from Watkins (who was enjoying the game from Texas) was breathe. Watkins was dreadful, and we didn't hear anything about Davis yesterday, which was nice. I don't care who's back there, I just can't take any more deep balls.

[sbark]

BP totally going the Dick Vermeil route ...........advancing age, a few heart problems will do that to you,

Watkins better keep ready, hopefully KD doesnt "shoot himself" in the foot, the competition is what this game is all about.....Watkins will have his day, like Romo study, work hard, get ready....if you can play you'll see turf

[DCBoysfan]

I think Watkins will be fine, this type thing happens in he NFL. He is a young player who willl have time to prove he can play on this team.

[sago1]

Actually I still think Watkins has a good future in the NFL and with the Cowboys. He's just a rookie with a lot of talent who needs mature more on the field. I think Davis will get a lot of playing time but believe Watkins will learn how to field FS position in the NFL from the bench for little while. Still believe he's our future FS starter but more likely next year when he's added strength/conditioning and becomes more familiar with NFL level. This kid's got the talent and the mental ability/attitude but seasoning will help. Don't throw him away too soon.

[CrazyCowboy]

That is what it looked like.......go Davis!

[BulletBob]

Personally, I was hoping Watkins would develop quickly, so we could get back to the business of Roy patrolling the front line a little more closely.

However with Killer back in there, I think the coaching staff will still be tentative about moving Roy up into the box.

Roy did blitz once or twice last night, but a solid FS would enable a disruptive Roy Williams more prominently. The waiting game continues.

Gawd, I miss Darren Woodson.

[Hostile]

Watkins lost his job before last night. Last night just extended how long it will take for him to reclaim it. He can. He needs to adjust his coverage. He knows that. He's a smart kid who just seemed a bit overwhelmed.

[Jammer]

I can't help thinking how a couple of games might have been different if Davis was back there earlier this year.

[dboyz]

I think Watkins is still the future at the position, but he's a rookie and just not ready yet.

[Deep_Freeze]

I can't help thinking how a couple of games might have been different if Davis was back there earlier this year.

Hard not to think that.

Really a hard thing to address, you never know about hindsight. I am glad we got the chance to see what Pat had to offer, helps us and him in the future.

[AbeBeta]

I can't help thinking how a couple of games might have been different if Davis was back there earlier this year.

Well, just think back to last season and recall some of Davis' finer moments.

[ghst187]

Its still a bizarre situation to me because Keith Davis is truly a SS. And I really think he could be a VERY good SS. The guy is a hitting machine and excels in run support. Of course, as long as Roy is here, no one else will play SS.
So truly we have two SS's back there in Cover 2 and we did better in pass defense. Bizarre to me.
I was hoping, as many here were, that Watkins would ballhawk in the pros like he did in college. He hasn't yet but hopefully he will as he grows.
Honestly, I feel bad for Keith though because he'd be a starting SS in New Orleans had we let him go and probably be a star there. But I sure would hate to let him go because he is a heat-seeking missile on ST's.
As long as someone, anyone, is keeping the deep balls to a minimum though, I don't care who it is.

[superpunk]

Well, just think back to last season and recall some of Davis' finer moments.

I do recall Davis saving the Chargers game for us by nailing a WR in the goalline stand. I don't recall him consistently getting beat in nearly every game, either.

[Maikeru-sama]

I do recall Davis saving the Chargers game for us by nailing a WR in the goalline stand. I don't recall him consistently getting beat in nearly every game, either.

Besides experience in Europe, Keith Davis had very little experience coming into the 2005 season as well, so it was not surprising that he made a lot of mistakes.

But imo he digressed late in the season and eventually Willie Pile started coming in on Passing Downs late in the season.

- Mike G.

[STSINAZ]

i hope that killer doesnt get burned...cause thats what happened last year...he better not relax

[Chocolate Lab]

I have no complaints about Watkins being benched last night, but it's not like Davis or Coleman made any of the plays on the ball deep that Watkins has been missing. Looked to me like our corners played very well, and the front seven played inspired ball.

I do think Parcells likes Keith's fire and hitting out there, though, and appreciates that he's been through a lot (some of it his own doing) to get to where he is.

[novadog]

Yah I'm not surprised to see Watkins lose this. He's got a lot of the fundamentals down but has shown too often the past two weeks that even when he's in position and hasn't gotten beat he's not making a play on the ball. Hopefully Davis has improved his ability to be in the right position on deep balls because he's shown all over college and europe he can make a play on the ball if it's near him, I think he just lost his job because he wasn't getting in position to make as many of the plays as he should've.

I'm very happy to see Davis step up to the challenge of being benched and work hard enough to get this spot back.

[Chuck 54]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it during the game thread last night, but after checking the channel to make sure that I wasn't watching a Barney episode, during one of the overtly disturbing PDAs, the Tuna quite clearly told Keith Davis (after planting one on him), "You're my guy."

Now if you momentarily suspend your belief that the Tuna has had a sexual preference transplant (not that there's anything wrong with that), it appears as though in the wave of emotion, Big Bill was apologizing to Killer about the whole Watkins experiment, and that he'll never cheat on Keith again with a younger player.

All kidding aside, right, wrong, or indifferent, I don't think we'll be seeing much of Mr. Watkins any time soon. It's a shame, though, I was one of the guys pulling for this kid to blossom into an all-pro FS ...

... not that I want to start dating him or anything.

Just like Watkins initial praise, it was "you didn't hear his name, so he did well" routine...I never saw Davis make a play on a pass...I'm sure someone will eventually throw deep when he is in man to man coverage with a team's best WR too...then we'll see what's what.

I was surprised that WAtkins was inactive, but I expect that to change because he's supposed to be a special teams star....I'm guessing his starting role probably had him pulled off the ST's for starters, but he'll probably get back.

[Sam I Am]

Now if you momentarily suspend your belief that the Tuna has had a sexual preference transplant (not that there's anything wrong with that), it appears as though in the wave of emotion, Big Bill was apologizing to Killer about the whole Watkins experiment, and that he'll never cheat on Keith again with a younger player.

With all the kissing last night, I don't think suspending our belief is required! :lmao2: ;)

[baj1dallas]

i hope that killer doesnt get burned...cause thats what happened last year...he better not relax

Well considering the big plays we've been giving up all season stopped when Watkins was inactive and Keith Davis was starting...I think Watkins is the one getting burned.

[stag hunter]

I think he will start next year. It was just too early for Watkins and the game is moving too fast for him this year.

By many accounts, the game was too fast for him at FSU.. The knock on him coming out of there was that he reacted poorly to the ball when it was in the air and that his coverage skills were subpar--exactly what we've seen so far. I hope he turns into a decent player but I'm not holding my breath