Tag: Jaylen Watson

Chiefs rookie Jaylen Watson with 99-yard pick-six

A rookie 7th-round pick Jaylen Watson with a 99-yard pick six

The first Thursday Night Football game on Amazon Prime has seen a pair of seventh-round draft picks score touchdowns.

The second TD by a last-round choice was spectacular.

Justin Herbert was looking for a touchdown and Jaylen Watson, a rookie from Washington State, was in the right place at the right time at the Chiefs’ 1-yard line.

He picked off the pass and was off and running. Ninety-nine yards later the Chiefs had the lead and after the PAT they had scored 17 points in a row and a 24-17 lead.

The first TD scored by a seventh-rounder in the game at Arrowhead went to Zander Horvath, who the Chargers took out of Purdue in 2022.

Here’s what Chiefs’ coaches said about rookie CB Jaylen Watson’s performance in Week 1

With Trent McDuffie heading to IR, the #Chiefs will rely on fellow rookie Jaylen Watson. Here’s what the coaches were saying about him after Week 1:

The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been afraid to rely on their rookies this season. In Week 1, two defensive rookies earned the start and each of the team’s nine rookies on the 53-man roster got snaps.

One of the two starting rookies was CB Trent McDuffie, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Cardinals and was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. With McDuffie hurt, the Chiefs turned to seventh-round rookie CB Jaylen Watson out of Washington State during the game. Watson stepped up and performed admirably after coming in cold off the bench.

With McDuffie sidelined for at least four weeks, Watson will play a vital part in the team’s defensive secondary. The Chiefs seem quite comfortable with that scenario right now too. It’s just about building on the Week 1 performance and getting the rookie prepared to start on a short week.

“Yeah, I thought he did a nice job,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid said of Watson on Monday. “(The draft) pick doesn’t matter now, right? It’s a matter of how he continues to up his game with the things that he’s seeing there. That’s the important part and focusing in on the gameplan and being able to execute that absolutely (the) best he can. There’s a lot to do when you start getting ready for these things, especially a Thursday night, you don’t have the whole training camp to get ready for it.”

In his first starting action, Watson played 25 coverage snaps and was targeted twice. One target resulted in a pass breakup, the other a six-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown.

“(I) was really happy with how Jaylen (Watson) went in there and did what he did,” Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo said. “They challenged him right away, which is what real good teams do. And he made that play down the sideline, which was good to see.”

Watson beat out fourth-round rookie CB Joshua Williams on the depth chart during the preseason, but even Williams saw action in the Week 1 game in the fourth quarter. Overall, Spagnuolo was pleased with what he saw from the entire group of defensive rookies.

“I think more than anything it was just good that they got first-game jitters out of their system,” Spagnuolo said. “They got a couple of reps under their belt and hopefully, that’ll help us in a quick turnaround to playing on Thursday.”

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Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson reflects on his first preseason game experience

#Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson shared thoughts on his first NFL game experience and praised veteran teammates for helping him prepare for it. | from @EdEastonJr

The days are dwindling until the end of training camp as the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for the 2022 regular season.

Players are trying to secure starting roles, maintain positions, and others hope to make the final roster cut. The journey for rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson wasn’t going to be easy entering camp, but he’s shown improvement that has kept him in the defensive lineup regularly, rotating with the starters and second-team defense.

The former Washington State standout isn’t taking any moment for granted while making the most of each opportunity. Watson spoke with reporters on Monday about living his dream in the NFL and help from teammates in his transition from college.

“Okay, when I first got here, I was like, ‘wow, I’m really here. I’m in the league,'” said Watson. “It was surreal because you know it’s always been the dream. Then the first preseason game, just looking in the crowd and the national anthem going on, it kind of came back again. Like, ‘wow, I’m really about to play in my first game.’ But after the first play, I was good. I was like, ‘this is what I do. I deserve to be here; I worked for it. Now let’s just play ball.’”

A seventh-round selection in April’s NFL draft, Watson has performed well in training camp. Now with a good preseason performance under his belt, he’s making the case for the 53-man roster in Kansas City. He praised his veteran teammates for their help in grasping defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme.

“That’s just a huge shoutout to the vets,” Watson said. “They’re doing a great job coaching up us younger players. We’ve got a huge group of DB’s, rookie DB’s, a big draft class. But they’re just so open to helping us. Anytime we have a question, we can just pull them to the side, and they’re always there to help us.”

The next few days leading into the Chiefs preseason matchup with the Washington Commanders will be crucial for Watson and several players. A strong performance on Saturday could be just the statement Watson needs to secure his spot on the roster.

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4 takeaways from Day 8 of Chiefs training camp

Here are some of the things we learned from the #Chiefs’ latest training camp practice:

The Kansas City Chiefs held their last training camp practice of the week on Thursday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. They’ll pick things up again on Saturday as they begin game-prep for Week 1 of the preseason against the Chicago Bears.

This practice was one of Andy Reid’s traditional 10-10-10 practices, which are typically shorter, quicker and lighter work. The team rotated through sets of 11-on-11 team drills, with 10 plays on offense, 10 plays on defense, and 10 plays on special teams. Overall, it seemed to be a good end to the practice week with some explosive plays and good competition on both sides of the ball.

Here are a few of the things we learned during the course of the team’s eighth practice:

Draft dreams came true for Chiefs rookie CB Jaylen Watson

#Chiefs CB Jaylen Watson was praying to be drafted by Kansas City and his prayers were answered on Day 3 of the 2022 NFL draft. | from @EdEastonJr

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The 2022 NFL Draft was only a little over a week ago, and already, the newest members of the league are getting to work for their perspective teams. The Kansas City Chiefs added multiple rookies to their club after the draft and have already completed their rookie minicamp.

One of the many interesting defensive selections by the Chiefs was Washington State CB Jaylen Watson. The seventh-round pick comes to Kansas City with plenty of upside and much to prove. The wait to hear his name called was tough for Watson, as he discussed during Sunday’s press conference.

“It was so nerve-racking,” Watson said. “Me personally, I wasn’t expecting to go that late, so I was kind of down. Everyone was telling me, ‘Stay off your phone,’ because I’m looking at every draft pick on day three because I knew I was going to be a day three guy. Everyone just kept aggravating me, and they were irritating. They didn’t understand what was going through my head, so I separated myself from the family, me and one of my close friends went out to my car and we were just listening to music. I had already seen Kansas City had got two corners, and I really wanted to go to Kansas City, so I was like, ‘Man.’ Then the call, I saw the Kansas City area code, me and my friend looked at each other, our eyes got super big, and they said, ‘This is the Chiefs,’ and I was just so excited I just started running full speed down the street. Everyone in the house saw me, and they were like, ‘What’s wrong, what’s wrong, who is it?’ I was like, ‘It’s the Chiefs!’”

Why did Watson want to end up in Kansas City so badly? He took a top-30 visit with the team, and the process wasn’t just about him selling himself to the coaching staff. That process made him realize that the Chiefs were the best possible situation for him.

“It went great,” Watson said. “I talked to Coach (Steve Spagnuolo), I talked to Coach (Dave) Merritt. They just wanted to see how much I knew IQ-wise and how much I knew about football. It was great. Once I left, I knew this was where I wanted to be.”

The other two corners drafted ahead of Watson were first-round pick Trent McDuffie and fourth-round pick Joshua Williams. In 2021, Watson posted 31 tackles, two interceptions, three pass breakups, and ranked second in the FBS with four fumble recoveries at Washington State. The impressive season still didn’t guarantee him a selection in the draft, but whether he was a first-round pick or seventh-rounder didn’t matter in the long run. Watson ended up exactly where he wanted to be.

“To be honest, figuring out where you’re gonna get drafted is like getting a March Madness bracket right,” said Watson. “You’ll never know. All the mock drafts you see, they might get top three picks right or five, but after that, especially go into the second and third day, you’ll never know. So, I was just praying, you know cuz like I said, I love winning. I was just praying the Chiefs got me, and it ended up happening.”

The hopes are high for Watson as he continues to assimilate into the NFL. The competition among the young cornerbacks will be fun to watch heading into training camp.

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2022 Carolina Panthers mock draft 6.0: Scott Fitterer edition

In our latest mock draft for the Panthers, we activate Scott Fitterer Mode and see how much a trade-down from the No. 6 pick can get us.

Suppose the draft’s top targets for the Carolina Panthers are picked clean before they even hit the clock. No Evan Neal, no Ikem Ekwonu, no Charles Cross and no Malik Willis.

What then? Well, it might be time to get crazy and activate Scott Fitterer Mode.

Here, while using the Pro Football Focus Mock Draft Simulator, is what a trade-down from the sixth overall pick could bring the Panthers in a week’s time.

Chiefs to host Washington State CB Jaylen Watson on top-30 visit

Washington State CB Jaylen Watson has an upcoming top-30 visit with the #Chiefs per report.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to host players on top-30 visits ahead of the 2022 NFL draft.

The latest news comes from our friend Justin Melo of The Draft Network, who says that Washington State CB Jaylen Watson has an upcoming top-30 visit with Kansas City. Watson has also met virtually with the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders per Melo.

A transfer from Ventura College, Watson only played two seasons for Washington State. As a senior with the Cougars in 2021, Watson managed 31 total tackles, one tackle for loss, two interceptions, three passes defended and four fumble recoveries in 12 games played.

Listed at a hair under 6-3 and 204 pounds, Watson is a press coverage corner that would meet the Chiefs’ need after the departure of Charvarius Ward in free agency. He fits the team’s arm length threshold, which is rather important because there are a lot of cornerbacks who don’t this year.

Watson put together a solid pre-draft cycle, participating in both the Senior Bowl and the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. He ran a 4.51s 40-yard dash at the combine, but he improved to 4.47s at his pro day. He also benched 18 repetitions of 225 at the combine. At his pro day, he wowed scouts with a 38-inch vertical jump.

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