2012 Rams Fifth Round Pick (#150): Rokevious Watkins, OG, South Carolina

[Nick]

Discuss!

[general counsel]

Huge guy, fills a need, second team all sec, plus you HAVE to love a guy named Rokevious (i actually considered that name for both of my daughters, before i settled on spencyr and eddi).

I love it!

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[lukebailey]

Who? Wow, that's a reach even for the fifth round.

[THOLTFAN81]

Wanted a guard or an outside backer, we went guard, I'm once again pleased with the pick.

Next round outside backer

[Rammed]

#Rams @ 150: Rokevious Watkins. 6'4/338. 34" arms. 5.30 40. 2011 first-tm All SEC. 27 career starts, mixed between RT & RG. Power blocker. -- Evan Silva (@evansilva)

[THOLTFAN81]

Who? Wow, that's a reach even for the fifth round.

Just because you don't know him doesn't make him a "reach". It's round five dude, how many guards left do you honestly know by name?

[Nick]

Tweet Reactions...


Evan Silva ‏ @evansilva
#Rams @ 150: Rokevious Watkins. 6'4/338. 34" arms. 5.30 40. 2011 first-tm All SEC. 27 career starts, mixed between RT & RG. Power blocker.

NFL Draft Bible NFL Draft Bible ‏ @NFLDraftBible
#Rams Rd.5No.150: OT - Rokevious Watkins, South Carolina, SR, 6036, 338, 5.39.

Jim Thomas Jim Thomas ‏ @jthom1
Rams get an offensive lineman: guard Rokevious Watkins, South Carolina.

[sosa39rams]

Solid pick. Absolutely huge at 6'4 340 lbs. Good at pass pro and run blocking. His only problems are pad height, balance, and not very athletic in space. Those are things that can all be coached easily. Boudreau and Fisher will make this guy a top 10 OG in the NFL for sure.

[Nick]

Information from Sideline Scouting...

Rokevious Watkins - South Carolina (HT: 6-3¾ - WT: 338)

Positives -- Massive size with long arms and an extremely powerful upper body... Has the ability to over-power anyone with proper leverage... Physically wears down opponents late in the game... Not overly athletic but does a decent job getting downfield or into the second level and locating his blocks...
Delivers a very powerful initial blow to the defender off the snap in the running game... Is very solid in pass protection... Has really good footwork allowing him to consistently stay square to the defender... Has shown the ability to find and pickup the blitz more often than not... Is very aggressive and attacks the defender in pass protection... Keeps hands very active and keeps defender off balance with constant jabs... A two year starter at guard with experience against top competition in the SEC; could develop into a starter if he can learn to use his natural talents more effectively.

Negatives -- Below average athletic ability... Is a little slow firing off the ball and getting down the line... Could use his legs more efficiently... Relies too heavily on his upper body strength and first punch off the line... Often stops moving his feet and doesn't take advantage of the strong initial punch... Often fires out too high out of his stance; plays too high in pass protection as well... Needs to improve his leverage in the running game... Has the ability to be a solid role player or key reserve because of his skills in pass protection and pure strength.

At South Carolina -- (Official School Bio) 2011: Selected All-SEC Conference Second Team for the 2011 college football season as voted upon by both the Associated Press and SEC head coaches... started at right tackle for the first time in his career after playing guard in 2010 and helped South Carolina to a 56-37 win against East Carolina in Week 1... Watkins graded out at 87 percent with eight knockdowns, four pancakes, no sacks and no quarterback pressures allowed against ECU. 2010: Started all 14 games... started first two games at right guard... moved to left guard for Furman game, but was back at right guard for start at Auburn... left the Furman game with a sprained right shoulder but returned to make the start at Auburn... held down the right guard position for the remainder of the campaign. 2009: Redshirted in his first season in the Garnet & Black following a transfer from Georgia Military College. 2007-08: Played junior college ball at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville... coached by Bert Williams... helped pave the way for a Bulldogs rushing attack that managed to post over 180 yards a game on the ground in his sophomore season... considered a three-star prospect by Scout.com and a two-star prospect by Rivals.com... considered the 26th-best junior college player in the country, according to SuperPrep... also had an offer from UAB before casting his lot with the Gamecocks. High School: Graduated from Creekside High School in Fairburn, Ga. in 2007. Personal: Rokevious P. Watkins is a sociology major at South Carolina.

[general counsel]

How in the world can anyone call a second team all sec guard a reach in the middle of the 5th round. This pick obviously fills a need for us and its one thing to speculate early in the draft, but you have absolutely got to be kidding me if anyone thinks that they are truly qualified to evaluate the remaining talent at guard or any other position at this point in the draft.
A huge power blocker, perfect fit for the fisher style.
I guess we liked him better than the godfather of soul, james brown from troy, who was also still available.

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[GROUND DOG 39]

BIG is better.

[andy82]

How in the world can anyone call a second team all sec guard a reach in the middle of the 5th round. This pick obviously fills a need for us and its one thing to speculate early in the draft, but you have absolutely got to be kidding me if anyone thinks that they are truly qualified to evaluate the remaining talent at guard or any other position at this point in the draft.

AP First Team All-SEC as well. Any time you pick up a massive, powerful blocker to play inside is only good news for the RB's. Nice developmental value

[berg8309]

Who? Wow, that's a reach even for the fifth round.

I don't think anything 5-7 is a reach unless the guy never played football in his life.

[general counsel]

Good point by andy on the developmental angle. One thing fisher obviously counts on (you can see the theme throughout the draft) is picking guys with talent that can be developed, guys that have not peaked with their production. THis guy needs some coaching, but fisher believes in his coaches and it is the mid fifth round. He may not be a starter on day one, but he certainly will have a shot and maybe a year from now or less he may be ready to step in. At any rate, add this guy to pead and brockers for the claiborne trade and i like it a lot on our end (and its going to be a steal if brockers is what fisher thinks he is)

Ramming speed to all

general counsel

[OldRamsfan]

Think it was a good pick , for the round . I Feel with our staff in hand we can make him better , Like the size that will e molded into a productive player .