Watkins Voicing Frustration

Sammy Watkins has been making his presence known lately, even though he has been sidelined with an injury. It started with a report from the Buffalo News in which he basically said the Bills are dumb for not getting him the ball more. The full quote and article can be seen here. A few days later, Watkins spewed his frustration at fans via his Instagram who were calling him out for always being injured. He later apologized, but clearly he is frustrated.

I actually don’t think its a bad thing that Watkins is showing frustration. He shouldn’t be content with with the amount of times he has been targeted, which was only eight times per game his rookie season and only 5.5 times per game when healthy this year. In comparison, the other notable second year receiver in the league, Odell Beckham, was targeted 11 times last year, including his first few games with limited targets coming off of injury, and averages 9.5 targets this year. He also shouldn’t be happy with watching from the sidelines due to injury, which has happened often this year. While it is never good to argue with fans on social media, Watkins is right with fans calling him out for injuries he can not control. No one other than himself knows how he is feeling.

Watkins was used in college in a lot of quick screens and bubble screens, however we have rarely seen that at all with Buffalo. Watkins is a great athlete who can make people miss, but he doesn’t get the chance in this offense. Watkins has shown the ability to win one on one battles, it should be automatic for quarterbacks to give him a chance with single coverage, yet they are hesitant to even look his way. In order for this Bills offense to start clicking, Watkins needs to have the chance to be the star player he can be.

The 22 year old receiver has for the most part said all the right things in the media, always saying he doesn’t care about stats, only wins. However; how can you blame the kid for wanting the ball, when he was brought in to be a play maker. The Bills gave up a lot to move up and draft him, yet never use him, which is not at all his fault. He waited patiently for over a year to be involved and show what he can do, that didn’t work. What choice did he have other than to demand the ball and let people know he is not happy with blocking and being a decoy, he wants the ball.

I am happy that Watkins is showing frustration, sharing what we all feel about this underachieving team. Isn’t that what we want as fans, to see the players want to win just as bad as we do? Watkins has not been a distraction at all thus far in his career, not a diva by any means compared to other star receivers such as Beckham, and Dez Bryant. Enough is enough, Watkins will be back healthy after the bye week, and if the Bills want to start clicking on offense, it starts by giving Watkins a chance with the ball in his hands.