Vikings Draft Profile: Quez Watkins, WR, Southern Miss

Image Courtesy of University of Southern Mississippi Atheltics

I’m always intrigued by one player or another and their freakish speed. Cordarelle Patterson and Jeff Badet are the two Minnesota Vikings of recent years that spring to mind. Of course, Patterson was a first round pick who never panned out as a receiver and Badet was an undrafted free agent who never got farther than the practice squad (much to the chagrin of our owner Joe Johnson.)

The Vikings have had athleticism at wide receiver in the form of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, but I always hope they go all in on a speedster and find a way to get them in space. We saw what Kirk Cousins was able to do with speedy veteran Aldrick Robinson two years ago, and he could benefit from a similar weapon with the Vikings not having a true third receiver set in stone.

Enter University of Southern Mississippi’s Quez Watkins, a 6’ 0” 185 pound rocket. Watkins ran the second fastest 40-yard dash for receivers and third fastest overall at 4.35 seconds, in the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. Of course test speed isn’t everything, but this is one player who looks as fast on tape as in the test. However, his 20-yard shuttle time was very slow, and his 3-cone was abysmal.

Watkins’ stats over three seasons for the Golden Eagles are quite good. He finished his career with 2404 receiving yards, 159 receptions, and 17 receiving touchdowns. He improved his yardage total every season, despite his receptions and touchdowns dipping in his final year. He also returned 19 punts for a 9.4 yard average and 1 touchdown. Watkins collected first-team All-Conference USA honors in both 2018 and 2019.

Watching tape on Watkins, you see his blazing speed. If he gets the ball in space, defenders need to take majorly wide angles to have a shot at catching him. This makes him a threat on underneath routes where coverage is pulled off, or on jet sweeps and quick screens. We’ve seen the Vikings use Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs this way before.

Watkins has sufficient height and length to play outside, but will probably be limited to the slot and special teams play initially. He could stand to pack on some muscle to help him in the red zone and 50-50 situations. If he is used in special teams play, he’s dangerous if given seems to burst through the first wave of defenders.

One of the biggest things going for Watkins is his growth every season at Southern Miss. He had an excellent 2018 season, and instead of being content with that success he came out and put together an even more explosive 2019. He still has issues, but you can see on film that there has been sufficient growth to suggest he could continue it at the next level.

Watkins does have some big issues, especially when it comes to polish as a receiver. His route running is elementary at best. He doesn’t work hard enough at making cuts crisp and tends to round everything off. Even on simple crosses, he tends to fade from the beginning and only rely on his speed to free him up.

A limited route tree ran in college means that he’ll need time to learn to run more routes along with making them better. His stop and go ability is extremely weak meaning that he isn’t going to do well on anything other than fly routes where he foot races the defenders. His blocking on runs is not sufficient either.

Where Watkins may have the most issues though is with his hands. He’s not a natural hand catcher, and will let balls get into his body more often than not. This means that he has to be really open to catch anything, and even then he’ll have some drops. This is an issue that can be addressed, but it takes a long time to fix and might never be worked out. This means he could be mentally battling his own body every time he goes to catch a pass.

If the Vikings wanted Watkins, they would need to spend a fourth to sixth round pick on him. The potential and speed are certainly there, but he also has big flaws that are the reason that most receivers fail. Of course, if a guy has one elite skill they can stick around for a long time, that’s how Cordarelle Patterson has stayed in the league. 

Watkins speed gives him that potential, and he could replace long-time return man Marcus Sherels, who may retire. I wouldn’t want to see Watkins go to the Vikings before the sixth, but if he’s there at that point, I say take a shot at it. You can likely stash him on the practice squad for a season to work through some of his issues.

 

Projected Draft Position: Fourth-Sixth round

Best Traits: Speed, Consistent growth, Return potential

Biggest Drawbacks: Hands, Route running

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