No arthritis. Ha ha Good line. True too. He has not suffered the abuse the body takes even from college and high school playing top level football.DANNY WATKINS, OL, Baylor
... projecting as a late first-round selection. Teams like the No. 30 Bears and No. 31 Steelers are thought to have him squarely in their sights.
NFL scouts I've talked to rave about Watkins and his NFL potential. They don't seem to hold his age against him (he'll be 27 in early November), because offensive linemen can often play well into their late 30s. He may be a relative novice at football, but he's obviously a quick study, no matter what the field.
"Well, I don't have arthritis,'' Watkins said, laughing at a question about his age. "I feel pretty good. I was one of the first guys out of my physical [at the NFL scouting combine]. I'm a little more mature than the other guys. I don't think it's a negative.''
I've never liked the cookie cutter mentality of some NFL teams. "arms too short to play left tackle" (Nick Kaczur) "not tall enough to play QB" (Drew Brees) "arm not strong enough" (Joe Montana) "not big enough to play running back (Emmitt Smith, although the NFL has finally recognized the ability of smaller RBs) "too physically weak and skinny to play QB" (Tom Brady) et cetera.Neither does the NFL. At a shade under 6-4, and 312 pounds, Watkins might start off by moving to guard in the pros, and he worked inside at this year's Senior Bowl. But some teams believe in time he'll be up to the task of handling the high-profile left tackle role, and maybe sooner than most expect.
Very interesting. Supports the view of some that kids should play a multitude of sports, and not focus just on one.It's his hockey experience, he says, that has prepared him for playing football in the trenches. "There's a lot of knee bend, and the way you put your feet in the run game is similar to skating,'' said Watkins, who was drafted by the CFL's B.C. Lions as the fourth overall pick in 2010. "Obviously, moving backwards in hockey was very natural to me and in pass protection. A lot has been able to carry over to my benefit.''
For myself, I will watch the career of Danny Watkins. I would love to see him go to a good franchise such as the Steelers or the Bears. Or the Patriots. Please, Lord, not the Cowboys. I used to like them, before egomaniac Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson, along with the departure of Bobby Ackles, who was a Jimmy Johnson guy.