Kansas City Chiefs: Four Breakout Candidates in 2019
By Kole Berrey
Breakout Candidate Number 2: Sammy Watkins
Death, taxes, and predicting a Sammy Watkins breakout season. Welcome to the offseason folks!
It seems that every year fans are in this position, waiting for Sammy Watkins to reach his potential and live up to his first round draft pedigree. To be fair, Watkins has always produced when he is on the field.
The hardest part for Watkins has been staying healthy. The former Clemson standout has only played a 16-game season once in his career, and it came in his rookie year. He has also only topped the 1,000 yard mark once in his career.
When he is on the field, however, he has shown to be a quality redzone threat. In his 60 starts, Watkins has hauled in 28 touchdowns, which over a 16 game season would project to roughly eight touchdowns per year.
This year just feels different though. This is going to be the year Watkins finally turns his potential into production, and I expect it to come in a big way. This is Watkins’ second year in Andy Reid‘s offense. That is a big deal, as Reid’s scheme is seen as extremely hard for the receiver position to learn.
Once again, playing with a MVP quarterback is going to make everyone better, including Watkins. His chemistry with Mahomes should also grow deeper, which will allow him to start coming down with more of his targets. Familiarity can go a long way, but it isn’t the only reason that Watkins can explode on to the scene this year.
Granted he stays healthy, the thing helping Sammy the most this year is simply opportunity. The Tyreek Hill situation looms large over the franchise, but even if Hill plays for the Chiefs this year, wide receiver depth behind Hill and Watkins is raw and inexperienced.
The players behind the two starters are projected to be rookie Mecole Hardman, DeMarcus Robinson, and another player who wins the battle in training camp. That group will have a lot of raw talent, but little in terms of experience and production.
Watkins is, at worst, a high volume number two, and his targets will reflect that. This will naturally lead to an uptick in production, allowing Watkins to showcase just why the Chiefs signed him to a lucrative contract last offseason.