Chiefs’ Sammy Watkins learned to look past stats, ‘Super Bowl is the goal’
The Chiefs don’t have the Sammy Watkins of three years ago, and — believe it or not — that’s a good thing, at least from the standpoint of locker-room harmony and Watkins’ own mental well-being.
Watkins, a fifth-year wide receiver and former fourth-overall draft pick now playing for his third team, once craved being the focal point of an offense so much that he publicly and pointedly criticized how his team used him while a member of the Buffalo Bills.
This season, Watkins has given every indication that he’s at peace with his place in the Chiefs’ juggernaut offensive led by young budding star quarterback Patrick Mahomes and featuring heavy doses of wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce.
These days, Watkins seems much more interested in getting in his pre-practice nap than blowing off steam in front of tape recorders. He delayed one of his coveted naps earlier this week to explain to The Star how his past experiences in the NFL have changed his approach to the game, individual statistics and team goals.
“(It’s) just a different mindset,” Watkins said. “I feel like when I was getting all my targets and stuff like that, we was losing. It’s a team game. It’s a team goal. I kind of let that control me off the field, on the field in how I was coming to work every day. Now, I just kind of let it go. I understand here it’s a different perspective.
“You’ve got so many guys. I mean Tyreek, me, Chris Conley, a frigging running back that get 1,500 yards, Travis Kelce who is a tight end that can get 1,000 yards. Tyreek is every bit a guy that can get another 1,000 yards. I’m capable of getting 1,000 yards. Chris Conley is capable. We’ve got (Demarcus Robinson) who is capable. … I can’t let my focus go to focusing on stats and yards when, shoot, we’re 5-1. Super Bowl is the goal.”
In mid-October 2015, Watkins sang a very different tune as a member of the Buffalo Bills. He boldly stated to a Buffalo News reporter that he hadn’t been looked at enough by the quarterbacks, and that the ball needed to come his way whenever he had one-on-one coverage and pointed to other star receivers in the league as examples. He went so far as to say he should be targeted at least 10 times per game.
Watkins accumulated 1,047 yards receiving in 13 games as a second-year player with the Bills in 2015, but they went 8-8. Injuries limited him to just eight games the following season, and the Bills traded him to the Los Angeles Rams in August of last year before the start of the season.
Looking back, Watkins believes he had the wrong outlook on the game and on how he measured his contributions.
“You know, you come into the league thinking it’s about stats,” Watkins said. “First round, fourth pick — I’ve gotta get 1,000 yards. I’ve gotta get 100 yards a game. But I think the value of your team (is what it’s about), how much you mean to your team, whether that’s drawing coverage, getting double coverage, stuff like that. You know, as a young guy I had an ego. I wanted 100 yards every game. I thought I should be targeted 10 times a game.”
This season, Watkins has been the Chiefs’ third-leading receiver both in yards (272) and receptions (22) through six games — though he played just 12 offensive snaps against the Denver Broncos before leaving the game with a hamstring injury.
He has logged one 100-yard receiving game this season, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his lone touchdown reception came in the home-opening win against the San Francisco 49ers. This past week against the Patriots, he had just two catches for 18 yards and was targeted four times.
A 6-foot-1, 211-pound former high school All-American who went on to set school records at Clemson for receptions, receptions per game, receiving yards, and receiving yards per game, Watkins signed a three-year $48 million contract this offseason. He still has the attributes of a top-shelf wide receiver.
“I think Sammy has been a great player, an All-Pro since the first time I met him,” said Jaguars coach Doug Marrone, who coached the Bills for Watkins’ rookie season. “He comes in and he works extremely hard. He’s got good hands. He blocks. I don’t know if there is a route that he can’t run. You can’t press him. He’s strong. He’s fast.
“He has a great demeanor about him. He’s a great team guy. He’s a tough guy. He’ll clear out for you if you want him to clear out. I can’t speak for Kansas City, but when he was with us in Buffalo if the game was on the line, that was the guy we were trying to get the ball to. He won a couple games for us single-handedly.”
A younger Watkins may not have handled a supporting role as seamlessly as he has this season — even as part of one of the most-productive offenses in the NFL.
Watkins said spending so much time injured and away from the field during his last year with Buffalo helped change his mindset. He had a lot of time to think about how his performance on the field affected his entire personality, and he contemplated what it meant to be a better teammate and a better person on and off the field.
Watkins also credited his season with the Rams’ high-powered offense last year as helping him fit in with the Chiefs’ group this season. Last year’s Rams were similar in a lot of ways to the Chiefs. A young up-and-coming quarterback in Jared Goff led a bevy of talented skill-position players that included 1,300-yard rusher Todd Gurley and four receivers, including Gurley, with more than 500 receiving yards. Watkins, who had 39 catches and 593 yards, was the fourth-leading receiver yet still led the group with eight receiving touchdowns.
“That definitely prepared me because I had kind of a similar situation that I’m in now, so it gave me a different perspective,” Watkins said. “When I went there I was free-minded, played fast. I was healthy all year, and that kinda helped me manage without getting the ball so much but playing hard.”
The Chiefs enter this week ranked fifth in yards per game (418.5), second in scoring (35.8 points per game), fourth in yards per play (6.8) and second in DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average) as calculated by Football Outsiders.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy lauded Watkins’ work ethic both on the field and in the classroom. Bieniemy said what he has learned to appreciate most about Watkins has been the things he does when he’s not getting the ball, such as blocking and running good routes and making himself available to Mahomes when he’s not necessarily the primary option.
“The only person I knew is the person that’s been here,” Bieniemy said of Watkins. “He’s a great kid. He does a great job of working. He’s very professional in the classroom. The only thing that Sammy is concerned about is making sure that we can win. That’s all that matters.”
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 7:00 AM.