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Undrafted rookie Watts earns a roster spot
Nate Latsch
http://stl.scout.com/story/1442714-undrafted-rookie-watts-earns-a-roster-spot
ST. LOUIS — Trey Watts never got a phone call telling him he made the Rams’ roster last Saturday. Eventually, since he didn’t get a call telling him that he was being cut, the undrafted rookie free agent running back just figured he had made the team.
“Once it got to 3 o’clock and you knew it was official, I just kind of called my mom and dad and told them I was pretty sure I made the team — no one told me for sure — but I think I made it,” Watts said following practice on Friday. “That’s kind of how it went.”
One of four undrafted rookie free agents to make the Rams’ 53-player roster following the final cuts, Watts may have been one of the biggest long shots considering the team ended up keeping five running backs.
Two of those running backs, Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham, were the team’s top two rushers a year ago as rookies. Another, Tre Mason, was a third-round draft pick this spring following a record-setting career at Auburn. Chase Reynolds is a valuable special teams player who was also a long shot as an undrafted free agent a few years back.
But Watts, a 5-foot-9, 208-pounder from the University of Tulsa, wasn’t necessarily waiting for his phone to ring with news from the Rams. Whatever happens is going to happen, he thought.
“I didn’t really have any control over it,” he said, “so I tried not to worry about it too much and let the day go by.”
Watts said he slept easy that night and then returned to Rams Park the next day for team meetings. That sealed the deal for the 23 year old if he still had any doubts about his status.
“You come in the next day for meetings and it’s really like I’m definitely here now,” he said.
Watts earned it.
He earned the opportunity in St. Louis after he was a highly productive player for the Golden Hurricane. He rushed for 881 yards as a redshirt sophomore in 2011, 1,108 the next season and then had 1,329 yards rushing, 395 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns in 12 games a fifth-year senior in 2013 a year ago.
Watts missed the Rams’ first preseason game because of an injury but was impressive whenever he got opportunities in the final three.
He rushed three times for 19 yards and caught an eight-yard pass against Green Bay. Then totaled 36 yards rushing and a touchdown and caught three passes for 31 yards in Cleveland. He carried 13 times for 51 yards and had a 12-yard reception in Miami in the preseason finale.
All told, in three preseason games, Watts rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown, averaged 4.2 yards per carry, and caught five passes for another 51 yards. He showed burst and elusiveness to find daylight … and successfully win a spot among the Rams’ 53 players despite the long odds against him.
“Obviously it would be really nice to just be a first-round draft pick and be secure and all that kind of stuff, but I mean I think it’s also fun being an undrafted free agent,” Watts said. “You have to work for everything and you never know what’s going to happen, but it’s fun just coming out and competing and trying to win a spot. It’s what I’ve been doing since college, so it’s nothing new to be. It’s nerve-wracking, stressful, but it’s fun at the same time.”
Now, the undrafted rookie running back is working so that he’s ready for whatever comes next. Whenever that may be.
“Anything that they ask of you, you just have to be ready,” he said. “You are one sprained ankle or a pulled hamstring — hopefully something like that never happens — but you know you’re one injury away from going in. Special teams you’re going to get some reps and you’re a backup at a lot of spots there too. So you always have to have the mentality that you’re just one play away from getting in the game and you have to prepare like you’re going to play.”
Watts will be ready whenever he gets that call.
Nate Latsch
http://stl.scout.com/story/1442714-undrafted-rookie-watts-earns-a-roster-spot
ST. LOUIS — Trey Watts never got a phone call telling him he made the Rams’ roster last Saturday. Eventually, since he didn’t get a call telling him that he was being cut, the undrafted rookie free agent running back just figured he had made the team.
“Once it got to 3 o’clock and you knew it was official, I just kind of called my mom and dad and told them I was pretty sure I made the team — no one told me for sure — but I think I made it,” Watts said following practice on Friday. “That’s kind of how it went.”
One of four undrafted rookie free agents to make the Rams’ 53-player roster following the final cuts, Watts may have been one of the biggest long shots considering the team ended up keeping five running backs.
Two of those running backs, Zac Stacy and Benny Cunningham, were the team’s top two rushers a year ago as rookies. Another, Tre Mason, was a third-round draft pick this spring following a record-setting career at Auburn. Chase Reynolds is a valuable special teams player who was also a long shot as an undrafted free agent a few years back.
But Watts, a 5-foot-9, 208-pounder from the University of Tulsa, wasn’t necessarily waiting for his phone to ring with news from the Rams. Whatever happens is going to happen, he thought.
“I didn’t really have any control over it,” he said, “so I tried not to worry about it too much and let the day go by.”
Watts said he slept easy that night and then returned to Rams Park the next day for team meetings. That sealed the deal for the 23 year old if he still had any doubts about his status.
“You come in the next day for meetings and it’s really like I’m definitely here now,” he said.
Watts earned it.
He earned the opportunity in St. Louis after he was a highly productive player for the Golden Hurricane. He rushed for 881 yards as a redshirt sophomore in 2011, 1,108 the next season and then had 1,329 yards rushing, 395 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns in 12 games a fifth-year senior in 2013 a year ago.
Watts missed the Rams’ first preseason game because of an injury but was impressive whenever he got opportunities in the final three.
He rushed three times for 19 yards and caught an eight-yard pass against Green Bay. Then totaled 36 yards rushing and a touchdown and caught three passes for 31 yards in Cleveland. He carried 13 times for 51 yards and had a 12-yard reception in Miami in the preseason finale.
All told, in three preseason games, Watts rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown, averaged 4.2 yards per carry, and caught five passes for another 51 yards. He showed burst and elusiveness to find daylight … and successfully win a spot among the Rams’ 53 players despite the long odds against him.
“Obviously it would be really nice to just be a first-round draft pick and be secure and all that kind of stuff, but I mean I think it’s also fun being an undrafted free agent,” Watts said. “You have to work for everything and you never know what’s going to happen, but it’s fun just coming out and competing and trying to win a spot. It’s what I’ve been doing since college, so it’s nothing new to be. It’s nerve-wracking, stressful, but it’s fun at the same time.”
Now, the undrafted rookie running back is working so that he’s ready for whatever comes next. Whenever that may be.
“Anything that they ask of you, you just have to be ready,” he said. “You are one sprained ankle or a pulled hamstring — hopefully something like that never happens — but you know you’re one injury away from going in. Special teams you’re going to get some reps and you’re a backup at a lot of spots there too. So you always have to have the mentality that you’re just one play away from getting in the game and you have to prepare like you’re going to play.”
Watts will be ready whenever he gets that call.
