hagan714

Don't sleep on Saints tight end Benjamin Watson
By Larry Holder, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune



Josh Hill received almost all of the hype as the New Orleans Saints' next big thing at tight end with the trading of Jimmy Graham to Seattle.
Don't sleep on Benjamin Watson, though, at least after the third day of organized team activities.

Watson made a couple of Graham-esque receptions during Thursday's session, drawing the praise of Drew Brees.

The 34-year-old tight end's first catch occurred in team drills when he ran a seam route and hauled in a deep pass in traffic. This was more along the lines of a good throw by Brees and a nice grab by Watson.

The second noticeable reception occurred on what look like busted coverage, which drew the ire of secondary coach Wesley McGriff. Watson ran a deep post from the inside and drifted uncovered past linebacker Ramon Humber. Watson snagged the pass from Brees for what would have been about a 70-yard touchdown reception.

Here are a few more observations from Thursday's OTA session:


The Saints were running more 4-3 scheme looks Thursday and maybe that's why Galette rotated in rather than played the majority of the snaps. The thought going into this season is that Galette would be more of a pass-rush specialist.

This could mean something or this could mean nothing. But it's noteworthy.

Cam Jordan and Akiem Hicks lined up as the ends, while Lawrence Virgil and John Jenkins were the defensive tackles. Brodrick Bunkley (quad) still isn't practicing as the team eases him back into the lineup.

Don't sleep on Saints tight end Benjamin Watson: Larry Holder's OTA observations | NOLA.com

Watsons best years with the Pats were the years the pats had a ground and pound rushing attack way back when Tom was still cutting his teeth in the NFL

Thought the 43 bit was interesting. Cam Jordan and Akiem Hicks lined up as the ends? that is seriously setting the edge

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

saintsfan1976

No kidding. That's a nasty front 4.

Who were the 3 LBs?

ScottF

Pretty obvious that SP was high on Hill & Watson, which made the trade a little more palatable.

I was always a JG fan, but this statement is begging for a punchline: Watson made a couple of Graham-esque receptions during Thursday's session, drawing the praise of Drew Brees.
Graham-esque? So Watson had a lot of drops? Short-armed a bunch of balls? Didn't catch them in a big game?

RaginCajun83

Hoping that Hill gets more playing time than Watson

Cruize

Neither excites me at all. Watson is a serviceable vet. Hill is young and cheap. Everyone is going to have to step up in replacing Graham and Stills.

AsylumGuido

I can't disagree more. I don't feel there will be any problem at all replacing Graham and Stills. Graham was a one dimensional player who was routinely rotated out of the lineup on running plays because of his inadequate blocking skills. Yes, Graham is a talented pass catcher, but was made to look much better because of who was delivering the ball. I expect Watson and Hill to make up for most of Graham's missing production while making the offense far more difficult to anticipate because of their blocking skills. That lack of predictability should result in a far more effective offense. And like the title of this thread states, don't sleep on Watson. He has been vastly underutilized by the Saints due to Graham's presence.

Stills is a case of pure addition by subtraction. He was becoming, or had already become, a distraction in the locker room. Brees is good enough to make any one of his WR's into Stills' production replacement.

I fully expect the offense to be much better as a whole especially with the additions of Andrus Peat and Max Unger and a healthy Jahri Evans giving Brees a great deal better protection than he was warranted the last couple of years.

hagan714

WHEN WATSON IS ON HE IS ONE OF THE BEST.

ChrisXVI

Let's pump the brakes on Watson... He was pretty quickly passed up by Hill last season as a receiving threat. He's not a starter that poses any real challenge as a receiver or blocker. Great player for depth purposes though.

AsylumGuido

Beg to differ. He is a great receiver and a very solid blocker. I had him on a fantasy league back when he was with the Patriots, before they started truly utilizing the TE, and he was one of the best at times when used in the game plan.

rezburna

Not excited to here about the 4-3 being ran a lot.