The Chicago Bears should look into drafting these explosive playmakers
Chicago Bears 2022 NFL Draft Prospect: Christian Watson
The third player on my board that could be around for the Chicago Bears to draft on day two would be Christian Watson. Watson, like Austin III, wasn’t able to get the ball thrown his way much during the Senior Bowl game. I believe I count five times where he was startlingly wide open, but there wasn’t enough time to get him the ball.
Waston hails from the famous North Dakota State. Let’s rip on Pro Football Focus (PFF) a bit. I like to use them as a resource, but they aren’t perfect. They don’t have Christian Watson in their top 200 prospects. So you could say, well, why should the Chicago Bears consider him on day two of the NFL Draft? PFF has Dai’Jean Dixon from Nicholls listed in their top 200 prospects.
Most draft analysts have Watson ranked as the 15th to 20th best receiver (for now) on their boards. PFF has Dixon as the 25th-best receiver prospect currently. NFL Draft Buzz (NDB) presently has Dixon as the 48th best receiver prospect. Take that for what it’s worth.
Watson is similar to the quarterback who threw him the ball for NDSU. He is a freak athlete with all of the size and speed. When you go into a lab and build a receiver, it looks like Christian Watson. Watson has had catching (16 career drops) issues during his college career. That’s over double what the other receivers on this list had during their times with their programs. However, Watson only had two last season, which is a plus.
Watson is 6’5″, 210 pounds, and looks to run a 4.3X with a 40-inch vertical jump. That is the Cameron Henderson prototypical number one-styled receiver. Watson will need to be coached up, though. He hasn’t shown the route running, route concepts or leverage understanding that the other receivers mentioned have demonstrated on tape. That is what coaching is all about.
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Watson is more of that high ceiling type of player. That DK Metcalf-styled athlete who needs to learn about more of the reasons why things are done. If the Chicago Bears took a chance on Watson and he hit, the NFL North would have some problems facing the likes of Darnell Mooney, DJ Chark (if possible), Christian Watson, Cole Kmet, and David Montgomery as pass catchers.