Did LA Get Their Super Star?

Two foot surgeries, countless hamstring and ankle injuries and finally the Bills have had enough. While there have been countless reports of Sammy Watkins proclaiming he is now fully at 100% the Bills were never on board. Recently the Bills decided to decline Watkin’s team option for this next season and contract talks were stagnant. Finally the Bills shocked the world by trading the 2015 4th overall pick for CB E.J Gaines and a 2018 2nd round pick. The question is, what does this mean for the Rams?

Right away my first reaction is sadness for Sammy Watkins. Sammy Watkins has had miserable luck since being taken in the first round of the draft. Let’s make no mistake, when Sammy is on the field he is an elite wide receiver. The problem is just that, he can’t stay on the field. Now finally healthy Watkins will be thrown in the Rams offense where he will be forced to rely on Jared Goff in his contract year. Yikes. While I do believe Sean McVay’s spread offense will fit Goff better I have to wonder if Goff is truly good enough to be successful in the NFL Sammy Watkins has shown to be one of the best deep threats in the NFL. While this will add a whole new dimension for McVay’s offense I'm not sure Goff will be able to capitalize on it. This past season Goff averaged just over 5 yards per completion and completed just under 55% of these throws while only throwing for 5 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Overall these numbers have to improve for the addition of Sammy Watkins to truly have an impact on this offense. One area the Rams will see an immediate impact in will be the run game. In 2016 Todd Gurley averaged a miserable 2.94 yards per carry. Part of that can be contributed to the fact he faced a stacked box 26.9% of his runs. With Sammy Watkins this number will have to drop due to his impact down the field.

Overall this move makes a lot of sense for the Rams. The Rams are now competing with the Chargers to win over the city of Los Angeles. Sammy Watkins brings elite production to a position of massive need for the Rams. After swinging and missing on the signing of Tavon Austin to a ridiculous 44 million dollar deal the Rams needed to make a move. Running Todd Gurley into a stone wall 25 times a game was an inefficient and unsuccessful offensive game plan. While no team can run a true college spread offense in today’s NFL Sean McVay’s scheme will be the closest. In my opinion this is the exact gamble the Rams need to make. In 2015 Sammy Watkins averaged over 17 yards per catch, had 9 touchdowns and over 1000 yards in 14 games played. While 2016 he constantly battled a foot injury that caused him to never fully to be healthy, Sammy Watkins still was able to average 15.4 yards per reception in the 8 games he was able to play. To put that in comparison to his current roster no Rams receiver was able to average more than 12 in the 2016 season.

Sammy Watkins is elite when healthy. No one will argue that. The Los Angeles Rams are taking the gamble that he will be able to stay that way this upcoming season. The risk isn't just this season. If Sammy Watkins is able to maintain his health this season and produce at the same levels he will want a massive contract, something the Bills were wary about. As I see it now the Rams have no choice but to roll the dice on him. Making the massive trade for Goff put a spotlight on this franchise. Drafting Todd Gurley, signing Tavon Austin, and now trading for Sammy Watkins shows the Rams are all in for becoming the main attraction in LA. Time will tell if it pays off.