Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins is done staying quiet. Other receivers in his rookie class like Odell Beckham, Mike Evans and Jarvis Landry have been more productive than him, even though the Bills traded up to draft him at No. 4 overall.
Watkins complained very publicly this week about his lack of targets, and while openly pining for the ball is often a bad look, the man has a point.
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“That’s what I get mad at,” Watkins said, “when I don’t get looked at. I can look at film and his eyes go straight that way and I’m not getting looked at, at all,” Watkins said. He brought up other star receivers like Julio Jones and Beckham, and noted how much their quarterbacks throw it their way.
“Their quarterbacks go to them in every one-on-one situation,” Watkins said. “Force the ball. The only things that’ll happen are I catch it or knock it out.”
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In 2014, Watkins saw double-digit targets in five games, and racked up at least 87 yards in every game but one. Three times he eclipsed 115 yards receiving. Four of his six touchdown receptions came in games where he saw at least nine targets.
“I understand that these guys are young and they need some time to trust me. Once we get that trust, it’ll be different. But for me, I need the ball at least 10 times — I need 10 targets — and I’ll be fine with however many yards I get,” Watkins said.
“You came up to draft me and I’m not getting targets — that’s a problem. You’re making me look bad and you’re making yourself look bad. Why not make both of us look good?”
Watkins picked a great week to complain. In the NFL squeaky wheels tend to get grease, and even though the Bengals have been excellent defensively this year, they are ranked 30th against No. 1 wide receivers per FootballOutsiders. Tyrod Taylor may miss the game, which hurts, but backup EJ Manuel developed chemistry with Watkins last year that should carry over.
Watkins is a sneaky great play in daily fantasy football leagues.
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