PHOENIX -- Fantasy owners would love to see Bills receiver Sammy Watkins play 16 games, and new Buffalo coach Sean McDermott feels the same way. McDermott has high hopes for Watkins this year.
Watkins was limited to eight games in 2016 because of an injured left foot, which required a second surgery in January after the season was over. The first surgery was last April, and it appeared that he never fully recovered.
But McDermott said Tuesday at the NFL owner’s meeting that he’s confident Watkins will be ready to go this season, and hopefully he can play 16 games.
“I had a chance to sit down with Sammy the other day,” McDermott said. “I was impressed. He’s on schedule with his rehab. No setbacks.”
I asked McDermott if he has a magic formula for keeping Watkins healthy and on the field. He laughed and said “he’s attacking that rehab process, and that’s the start. We’re looking forward to having him back.”
Fantasy owners are looking forward to seeing Watkins back as well, and we hope he bounces back from multiple foot surgeries as Dez Bryant and Julian Edelman did in recent years to keep playing at a high level. Watkins still has the potential to be a No. 1 Fantasy receiver in all leagues if he stays healthy.
Watkins showed his upside in 2015 with 60 catches for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns, including six games with at least 13 Fantasy points in a standard league in his final nine outings. That coincided with the emergence of quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and Watkins and Taylor are reunited this season because Taylor is staying in Buffalo.
Taylor should lean on Watkins this season, and he’s been a target hog when he’s on the field (he’s averaged 7.5 targets a game in his career). He’s also still in his prime at 23 (he’ll be 24 in June), and he’s set up for a big year if healthy. Fantasy owners should target him all leagues in Round 4 given his potential.
And if Watkins stays healthy, that’s good news for Taylor, who has also already impressed McDermott. The expectation was Taylor would leave Buffalo because of his contract, but he reworked his deal to stay with the Bills.
McDermott is happy that Taylor is his quarterback.
“The very first day I had the job, he made himself available to me,” McDermott said. “I remember I was in my driveway in Carolina, and he called me and reached out. That spoke volumes about the type of person that we have. Outstanding individual character-wise, and then what he did on the field the past couple of years. Then you combine that with the system that (new offensive coordinator) Rick Dennison is bringing to Buffalo, it’s a nice fit for us.”
Taylor finished as the No. 18 Fantasy quarterback in standard leagues in 2016 with 3,023 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions, and he led all quarterbacks with 580 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He’s a No. 2 Fantasy quarterback worth drafting with a late-round pick in all leagues, but his value could improve drastically if Watkins stays on the field.
It would also help Taylor if Buffalo improved its receiving corps aside from Watkins and tight end Charles Clay. The Bills lost Robert Woods, Justin Hunter and Marquise Goodwin as free agents, but all they added were Corey Brown and Andre Holmes, who combined for 41 catches last season.
McDermott said he was excited about Brown, Holmes and Jeremy Butler: “That’s going to be a fun group to watch during the whole offseason and preseason. I love the toughness of that group.”
It’s doubtful any of those receivers make an impact for Fantasy owners, and we’ll see if Buffalo adds any other receivers in the NFL Draft. But this passing game’s success is predicated on Watkins being healthy.
You know it. So does McDermott.
“I look forward to watching Sammy when he gets back on the field,” he said. “What a dynamic receiver.”