3 reasons Christian Watson’s drop stats shouldn’t scare off Chicago Bears

Reason No. 3: North Dakota State hardly passed the ball

Something I remember learning in school was that statistics can tell multiple different stories. In fact, I took a hybrid class that was 50% a statistics course and 50% a speech/debate course.

In that class, as well as the teachings I likely tuned out during middle school, I learned about sample sizes and how sample sizes can drastically change a statistical outcome if skewed one way or another.

When studying the case of Christian Watson, his drop rate is a result of a small sample size, comparatively to the other receivers on this list.

https://twitter.com/DakotaZientek/status/1512234309234700307

In the 2021 season, North Dakota State only passed more than 25 times once. This was week eight against Missouri State, and it was a game outside the norm for NDSU: They were in a close game.

The average passing attempts per game in 2021 for the NDSU Bison was around 17.

In the modern NFL— and even most college football— has been more of an air raid offense. For the Bison, this couldn’t be further from the case.

So, even if Christian Watson were to drop one pass, he’s already dropped one of his few targets per game, making the percentage of his drops higher.

This probably isn’t rocket science to most, but the fact that Christian Watson is getting dragged for his “drop problem” is ridiculous.

He’s one of the top Day 2 receivers in this draft, and the proof is in the pudding.

Now, if other teams get scared off by Christian Watson’s alleged butterfingers, hopefully, the Chicago Bears can bring him into an offense that will hopefully feature him more than not.