Biabreakable
Footballguy
Since the trade being talked about is Watkins for rookie pick 1.03 the rookie player does not have a NFL team yet or any games to compare them by, so the only fair apples to apples comparison would be comparing them as rookie prospects and to ignore how Watkins has performed so far in the NFL. There is no way of knowing how the rookie you draft at 3 will perform, but you can compare the players based on their relative talent level, college performance and draft position.
We don't know where any of the rookies will be drafted yet or how high. Based on mock drafts so far I have not seen any rookie WR being talked about as a top 10 pick of the 2017 draft. We do know that Sammy Watkins was drafted 4th overall and Buffalo traded up to get him.
I do not expect Corey Davis or Mike Williams to demand this price in the 2017 draft.
The 2014 draft WR
1 2014 1 4 Sammy Watkins WR 21
2 2014 1 7 Mike Evans WR 21
3 2014 1 12 Odell Beckham WR 21
4 2014 1 20 Brandin Cooks WR 20
5 2014 1 28 Kelvin Benjamin WR 23
6 2014 2 39 Marqise Lee WR 22
7 2014 2 42 Jordan Matthews WR 22
8 2014 2 45 Paul Richardson WR 22
9 2014 2 53 Davante Adams WR 21
10 2014 2 56 Cody Latimer WR 21
11 2014 2 61 Allen Robinson WR 21
12 2014 2 63 Jarvis Landry WR 21
13 2014 3 86 Josh Huff WR 22
14 2014 3 90 Donte Moncrief WR 21
15 2014 3 91 John Brown WR 24
16 2014 3 97 Dri Archer WR 23
17 2014 4 104 Jalen Saunders WR 21
18 2014 4 106 Bruce Ellington WR 23
19 2014 4 115 Shaquelle Evans WR 23
20 2014 4 118 Martavis Bryant WR 22
21 2014 4 123 Kevin Norwood WR 24
22 2014 5 142 Ryan Grant WR 23
23 2014 5 146 Devin Street WR 23
24 2014 5 176 Jared Abbrederis WR 23
25 2014 6 185 Robert Herron WR 22
26 2014 6 189 T.J. Jones WR 22
27 2014 6 190 Matt Hazel WR 22
28 2014 6 196 Walt Powell WR 22
29 2014 6 209 Quincy Enunwa WR 22
30 2014 7 218 Michael Campanaro WR 23
31 2014 7 236 Jeff Janis WR 23
32 2014 7 239 James Wright WR 22
33 2014 7 240 Tevin Reese WR 23
34 2014 7 244 Jeremy Gallon WR 24
Even 6th round pick Quincy Enuwa has produced some decent numbers from this draft class. I think it says a lot about Watkins talent as a prospect that he was considered the best of this very deep and talented group. The top 3 of this draft class seem to be at a higher tier of ability to me than any of the 2017 WRs.
College stats
Sammy Watkins
*2011 Clemson ACC FR WR 13 82 1219 14.9 12 32 231 7.2 0 114 1450 12.7 12
*2012 Clemson ACC SO WR 10 57 708 12.4 3 14 97 6.9 1 71 805 11.3 4
*2013 Clemson ACC JR WR 13 101 1464 14.5 12 6 11 1.8 0 107 1475 13.8 12
Mike Williams
*2013 Clemson ACC FR WR 10 20 316 15.8 3 0 0 0 20 316 15.8 3
*2014 Clemson ACC SO WR 12 57 1030 18.1 6 0 0 0 57 1030 18.1 6
*2015 Clemson ACC JR WR 1 2 20 10.0 1 0 0 0 2 20 10.0 1
2016 Clemson ACC JR WR 15 98 1361 13.9 11 0 0 0 98 1361 13.9 11
If you compare them based on their freshman seasons, pretty obvious that Watkins was better than Williams at an earlier age. Williams did have a better second season than Watkins did. Watkins was better than Williams in the last season of college. This looks close but Williams got to play in two more games.
Last year of college on a per game basis:
Watkins 7.8 receptions 112.6 yards .92 TD
Williams 6.5 receptions 90.7 yards .73 TD
I like Davis slightly more than Williams at this point but I need to watch both players more before I can fairly compare them to WR from previous draft classes. On first blush Davis does not impress me nearly as much as Watkins did.
We don't know where any of the rookies will be drafted yet or how high. Based on mock drafts so far I have not seen any rookie WR being talked about as a top 10 pick of the 2017 draft. We do know that Sammy Watkins was drafted 4th overall and Buffalo traded up to get him.
I do not expect Corey Davis or Mike Williams to demand this price in the 2017 draft.
The 2014 draft WR
1 2014 1 4 Sammy Watkins WR 21
2 2014 1 7 Mike Evans WR 21
3 2014 1 12 Odell Beckham WR 21
4 2014 1 20 Brandin Cooks WR 20
5 2014 1 28 Kelvin Benjamin WR 23
6 2014 2 39 Marqise Lee WR 22
7 2014 2 42 Jordan Matthews WR 22
8 2014 2 45 Paul Richardson WR 22
9 2014 2 53 Davante Adams WR 21
10 2014 2 56 Cody Latimer WR 21
11 2014 2 61 Allen Robinson WR 21
12 2014 2 63 Jarvis Landry WR 21
13 2014 3 86 Josh Huff WR 22
14 2014 3 90 Donte Moncrief WR 21
15 2014 3 91 John Brown WR 24
16 2014 3 97 Dri Archer WR 23
17 2014 4 104 Jalen Saunders WR 21
18 2014 4 106 Bruce Ellington WR 23
19 2014 4 115 Shaquelle Evans WR 23
20 2014 4 118 Martavis Bryant WR 22
21 2014 4 123 Kevin Norwood WR 24
22 2014 5 142 Ryan Grant WR 23
23 2014 5 146 Devin Street WR 23
24 2014 5 176 Jared Abbrederis WR 23
25 2014 6 185 Robert Herron WR 22
26 2014 6 189 T.J. Jones WR 22
27 2014 6 190 Matt Hazel WR 22
28 2014 6 196 Walt Powell WR 22
29 2014 6 209 Quincy Enunwa WR 22
30 2014 7 218 Michael Campanaro WR 23
31 2014 7 236 Jeff Janis WR 23
32 2014 7 239 James Wright WR 22
33 2014 7 240 Tevin Reese WR 23
34 2014 7 244 Jeremy Gallon WR 24
Even 6th round pick Quincy Enuwa has produced some decent numbers from this draft class. I think it says a lot about Watkins talent as a prospect that he was considered the best of this very deep and talented group. The top 3 of this draft class seem to be at a higher tier of ability to me than any of the 2017 WRs.
College stats
Sammy Watkins
*2011 Clemson ACC FR WR 13 82 1219 14.9 12 32 231 7.2 0 114 1450 12.7 12
*2012 Clemson ACC SO WR 10 57 708 12.4 3 14 97 6.9 1 71 805 11.3 4
*2013 Clemson ACC JR WR 13 101 1464 14.5 12 6 11 1.8 0 107 1475 13.8 12
Mike Williams
*2013 Clemson ACC FR WR 10 20 316 15.8 3 0 0 0 20 316 15.8 3
*2014 Clemson ACC SO WR 12 57 1030 18.1 6 0 0 0 57 1030 18.1 6
*2015 Clemson ACC JR WR 1 2 20 10.0 1 0 0 0 2 20 10.0 1
2016 Clemson ACC JR WR 15 98 1361 13.9 11 0 0 0 98 1361 13.9 11
If you compare them based on their freshman seasons, pretty obvious that Watkins was better than Williams at an earlier age. Williams did have a better second season than Watkins did. Watkins was better than Williams in the last season of college. This looks close but Williams got to play in two more games.
Last year of college on a per game basis:
Watkins 7.8 receptions 112.6 yards .92 TD
Williams 6.5 receptions 90.7 yards .73 TD
I like Davis slightly more than Williams at this point but I need to watch both players more before I can fairly compare them to WR from previous draft classes. On first blush Davis does not impress me nearly as much as Watkins did.