Not exactly. He wasn\'t an explosive knock your head off Ray Lewis typr. But he was always considered a sure tackler. Never heard the drag-down comment on him before. Finesse tacklers don\'t end up 2 time Butkis Award finalist.

A bonus with Watson is that he has the skills to play both. Someone said he played OLB before but I couldn\'t find any proof other than as a reserve his fresman year at Notre Dame.

I\'d be OK with sliding him over if the BPA we pick is an ILB, and I\'d be OK leaving him at MLB where he\'s played his whole career and pick an OLB.

SLB-Allen
MLB-Dat Nguyen
WLB-Watson

Doesn\'t look so bad to me.

SLB-Merriman
MLB-Watson
WLB-Bockwoldt

Doesn\'t look too bad either.

As long as we\'re discussing how to address the LB unit I\'m on cloud 9.

OLB..and is good in coverage and versus the run.

here\'s my thinking though...line him up on the strong side, which isn\'t much different from the skills he needs up the middle.

grab a tough MLB and then either play colby or a rookie whose got some pop or is a premier pass rusher on the weakside....

OLB..and is good in coverage and versus the run.

here\'s my thinking though...line him up on the strong side, which isn\'t much different from the skills he needs up the middle.

grab a tough MLB and then either play colby or a rookie whose got some pop or is a premier pass rusher on the weakside....

SLB-Fujita, leave Watson at MLB and DJ at WLB....is it ok to dream??

QUOTES ON COURTNEY WATSON:

Saints Director of Player Personnel Rick Mueller:


Q: What kind of player is LB Courtney Watson?

A: \"He\'s a good football player, and another guy who is really versatile. He played inside at Notre Dame, a decent-sized kid who is not overly tall but a 240-pound kid who is going to get a little bit bigger. He\'s smart and a good character guy. I think he\'ll be able to play a couple of different spots, and he\'s smart enough. I think he has the speed to be a good special teams player and he\'s a tough kid. He\'s also an instinctive player who finds the football. When you watch Notre Dame film, he\'s around the ball or making the tackle 90 percent of the time. He was a productive college football player and really an all-around linebacker as far as covering the pass and covering the run. A lot of times you eliminate things when you draft guys; if you get a tough guy, he\'s not always a fast guy, or tough or fast guy isn\' always instinctive. To a certain degree, this guy has a little bit of everything. I think all around, he\'s a good player with versatility and a lot of things we\'re looking for. He\'s a guy we\'ve looked at and talked about for a long time. We\'re happy to have Courtney.\"

Q: Do you think he\'ll start out in the middle?

A: \"We haven\'t made that decision. We\'ll let Jim Haslett and Rick Venturi work that out. But with this kid we have some versatility. He could play inside, but he could be a really good linebacker at that Will spot. He could probably line up at either spot, and that\'s a good problem to have.\"

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OVERVIEW
Player with outstanding character, both on and off the field … Heavily involved in his community, Watson became only the second Notre Dame player (Grant Irons) to earn AFC Good Works Team accolades … A three-year starter at inside linebacker, his quickness and range could see him shift to weakside outside linebacker at the pro level … A finalist in 2002 and a semi-finalist in 2003 for the Butkus Award, Watson was called, \"everything you would want in a leader,\" by head coach Tyrone Willingham … Seriously considered entering the 2003 NFL Draft, but opted to return to the school for his final season, hoping to be involved in the team\'s rebuilding under Willingham … Started his final 32 games, seeing action in 43 contests … Finished with 294 tackles (163 solos), 8½ sacks for minus-62 yards, 39 stops for losses of 151 yards, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble, eight pass deflections and seven interceptions for 202 yards in returns, including two touchdowns … Only Allen Rossum (3, 1994-97), Bobby Leopold (3, 1976-79) and Tom Schoen (3, 1965-67) had more interception returns for touchdowns in school history … His 202 return yards are the most by an Irish defender since Steve Lawrence totaled 233 yards (1983-86) … Only Nick Rassas (31.4 avg., 1963-65) had a higher interception return average in Irish annals.
ANALYSIS
Positives: Has a short, thick frame with a well-developed chest, broad shoulders, good arm muscle definition, good bubble, thick thighs and defined calves … Very productive defender with above-average toughness … Shows instinctive read and react skills, as he sees blocking schemes and moves quickly to the ball … Will step up and take on the offensive guard or lead back with force to stack the inside run … Uses his hands well to play off blocks … Quick in pursuit, showing the playing speed to recover when beaten … Has above-average ease-of-movement agility in his lateral pursuit … Hard hitter who is better as a drag-down tackler than one who wraps … Can lock on and stay on the hips of tight ends and backs operating in the short-area passing game … Adequate in his pass drops working in the zone (when dropping inside and in the short area) … Has natural hands going for the interception and a sudden burst to gain long yardage on the return … Adequate blitzer who easily moves through trash and traffic to get outside.
Negatives: Quick to diagnose plays, but needs to stay in control, as he tends to over-run plays, especially when coming on the back side pursuit … Strong to stack and shed, but would be better if he uses his natural leverage … Produces a lot of arm and drag-down tackles and needs to do a better job of staying low in his pads to stalk, wrap and secure … May not have the pass-drop agility to be effective outside in a Cover-2 defense, as he appears a little stiff in the hips and is tight in his turn working the zone … Better blitzer off the edge than coming inside, but lacks an array of moves when his initial charge is defeated (depends on quickness and speed rather than pass rush moves).

AGILITY TESTS
4.56 in the 40-yard dash … Bench presses 225 pounds 22 times … 365-pound bench press … 500-pound squat … 1.7 10-yard dash … 2.7 20-yard dash … 4.37 20-yard shuttle … 11.96 60-yard shuttle … 7.40 three-cone drill … 38-inch vertical jump … 10-foot-4 broad jump … 31½-inch arm length … 9¼-inch hands … Right-handed … Wears contacts.