Pat Watkins S Florida St
Strengths
Pat is a deceivingly athletic safety. He is tall, and I don’t think at the college level, that he's been challenged enough to bring out all of his talent. He has good enough coverage skills to be able to handle those big WR’s one-on-one in the red zone. Due to his size, Pat will be intimidating to a QB in a 2 deep zone. Add his speed, burst, ability to cover ground quickly and tackling skills to the mix and you have a recipe for a hell of a free safety at the next level.
Needs to Improve
I think that Pat is very sure of his talent and until it's proven to him that the techniques he uses now will not be good enough at the next level, he might be a little stubborn to coach. But he will be well worth the struggle because he seems to be a good kid and his stubbornness is not an attitude problem. It is a "confidence in his abilities" problem. He will get beat and then, he will learn.
Bottom Line
Right now, things come easy for Pat. He has athletic skills that a lot of safeties do not have and I don't believe that he has been challenged enough for most people to realize that. His coverage skills are good for the college level, but just average for the NFL level. Here is the issue: his measurables tell me that this kid has a lot more talent than he's shown to date and will develop as he's challenged at the next level. Pat has excellent upside to his game and is very underrated at this point in the draft, but he has only himself to blame for that. You have to wonder about his ability to motivate himself to be the best. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that as soon as Pat is challenged and struggles a bit (to the point where it affects his play on the field), his pride in his athletic talent will force him to get motivated and eventually become one of the better safeties in the league. In the mean time, Pat still has the ability to cover those big WR’s in the red zone and cut down those pesky fade routes that everyone uses now. That coverage ability, along with his size and athletic talent, makes Pat a first day pick. In fact, if a team feels that Pat has the upside that I think he has, some team at the end of the first round just might take a chance and pick him. It’s a bit of a long shot; but like all long shots, it’s a possibility.
- Drew Boylhart (thehuddlereport.com)
