Would Titans Gamble on Another Raw, Promising FCS Product?

He’s a gifted but somewhat raw NFL Draft prospect who played at North Dakota State.

That is the reality of wide receiver Christian Watson, and it might cause some anxiety among Tennessee Titans fans, given its similarity to 2021 scouting reports on offensive lineman Dillon Radunz.

Radunz got the benefit of the doubt when the Titans chose him in the second round last year. Franchise officials figured his upside and work ethic would be enough to overcome the lower level of competition he faced during his FCS career. It hasn’t worked out that way – not yet, at least. Radunz was inactive for five regular-season games and the Titans’ playoff contest in 2021. He is not a lock to step into a starting role in 2022, despite the deparures of starters at left guard and right tackle.

There’s always that extra bit of risk involved when taking an FCS prospect, as talent evaluators have to project how he’d fare against higher-level talent on a week-to-week basis.

Whether the Titans’ experience with Radunz might impact how the team views Watson – who obviously plays a different position – is unknown. But here’s what is certain: Once considered a mid or later-round pick, Watson has risen quickly in the eyes of analysts and draft gurus. And his make-up alone – a physical 6-foot-4, 208-pound receiver who ran a 4.36 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine – has to make him intriguing for the Titans, who still have a need for speed at wide receiver.

NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, a former Titans back-up quarterback, became the latest to heap high praise on Watson earlier this week. He rated Watson as the second-best wide receiver prospect in the draft, behind only Alabama’s Jameson Williams and ahead of Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks and USC’s Drake London.

“The most pleasant surprise of the draft for me is Christian Watson,” Simms said. “Another big receiver. I have all the confidence that you’ll continue to hear his name more and more as we go by here.

“Do you like (Seattle’s) DK Metcalf? Do you like (Pittsburgh’s) Chase Claypool? Do you like Mike Evans from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Because that’s who Christian Watson is to me. … When you look at the size, the skill, seeing the guy in person, you just go `Whoa, this kid is a real specimen.’”

Watson’s measurables are indeed eye-popping.

In addition to the size and speed mentioned, Watson recorded a vertical leap of 38.5 inches and a broad jump of 11-foot-4 at the combine. He has 10 1/8-inch hands and a wingspan of 79 5/8 inches.

Those kinds of numbers resulted in Watson earning a rare 9.96 Relative Athletic Score – nearly a perfect 10.0. RAS is a metric, designed by Kent Lee Platte, that gauges a player’s athletic abilities relative to the position they play.

It’s probably worth noting that in data going back to 1987, only 18 wide-receiver prospects have earned higher RAS scores than Watson. He was just shy of tying Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson (10.0), but ahead of former Titan Julio Jones (9.92).

“There's no doubt he's raw in areas,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler tweeted. “But few prospects crushed the pre-draft process like WR Christian Watson. Senior Bowl, Combine and … the (North Dakota State) pro day.”

Did we mention Watson is considered an excellent run-blocker, both in terms of effort and execution? We know how important that quality is to the Titans, as recently illustrated by the acquisition of Robert Woods in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams.

“At North Dakota State we run the football a lot,” Watson said at the combine. “That’s what helps us win games. Being a wide receiver, that’s something that you have to embrace. I think that’s something I learned to enjoy really early. Whether I’m catching 10 balls a game or I’m getting 10 good blocks a game, it was the same to me in the end.”

Did we also mention Watson has dual-threat capabilities, illustrated by his 49 carries for 392 yards (8.0 average) and two touchdowns in his last three seasons?

Did we also mention Watson returned 26 kickoffs at North Dakota State, averaging 26.4 yards and scoring two touchdowns? It turns out the Titans could use some help in that department as well.

Nonetheless, there remains a significant variance among analysts on how early Watson will be drafted. Some seem to still consider him a mid-round pick, others look at him as a second-round selection and a few even think he’s ascended to first-round status.

One of the main reasons is that it’s not easy to project how well a wide-receiver prospect from a run-oriented FCS school will deliver when it comes to the bottom line: catching passes in the NFL.

The most productive of Watson’s four seasons was the last one when he caught 43 passes for 801 yards. He was a big play waiting to happen with an average pf 18.6 yards per catch and seven touchdowns.

But the consensus is that Watson still has areas to clean up in his game as well. One stat that pops up from time to time in his scouting reports is that he had more drops – 16 – than contested catches at North Dakota State.

“Watson has an incredible ceiling that will entice NFL teams, but he has to clean up his drop issues,” SI.com’s Nick Falato wrote. “More drops than contested catches for a player of Watson’s skillset at the FCS level is troubling. However, it was apparent that Watson belonged in the big pond after his Senior Bowl performance. If he can be a more consistent catcher of the football, then he could be a significant weapon for the team that selects him.”

We’ll know in a matter of weeks whether Watson’s overall game entices the Titans into drafting a second player from North Dakota State in as many years.

There’s little doubt, though, that Watson appears to check a lot of the boxes when it comes to meeting the Titans’ needs.