Menelik Watson - OT - FSU

[TACKLE]

RT #71 for Florida State - 6'6 320 4.7 (according to rivals.com and his bio on FSU's site)
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I don't feel like going into too much detail but here's his life story here.

http://espn.go.com/colleges/fsu/foot...tate-seminoles

tl;dr - from a rough area in the UK, went to Spain as a teenager to play basketball, got a scholarship to play basketball at a small school in the states, did boxing for a bit then went to JUCO for a year. Ended up starting at RT for Florida State this year and played very well. He declared for the draft after one season.


I knew a little bit about him before and had watched him a bit but I actually just took him in the forum mock and started watching a bunch of him after that. Wow. Such a talented athlete. Just a physical specimen. Moves exceptionally well for a guy his size. As an athlete, he reminds me A TON of Jason Peters. Not mechanical or robotic, just a very fluid athlete who is a natural bender. He's very strong and plays with a lot of physicality. His explosiveness off the ball and power pop out at you when you watch him play. Strong punch. Given that he's only played 21 football games in his life, you can see he needs technical refinement, especially with his hands. His hand placement is little over the place. They get outside more than they should and he can get a little grabby.

He plays RT for FSU (he actually started playing RT because Kyle Long was the LT at his JUCO) but he has the movement skills to play on a left side. Though I don't believe the transition to college RT to NFL LT is nearly as big of a deal as some make it out to be nor do I believe the difference in value between the RT position and LT is all that great. Whatever side he does play on, it's best that he stays at that spot for a bit so he can get comfortable with that footwork on that side.

He needs some technical work for sure but this isn't Bruce Campbell were dealing with where the performance doesn't match up with the tools. Watson can play. From the games I've watched, his play itself are more impressive than some other OT's in this draft who's name is in the first round combo and his tools are second to none in this class. His stock should skyrocket in the offseason at the combine and his workouts.

When it's all said and done, I actually expect him to be a first round pick - he's too talented not to be.


Check him out