ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Shortly after the Chiefs signed receiver Justin Watson in February, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer was excited to get a text from new teammate Patrick Mahomes.
Never mind that it could have been from anybody.
“Somebody could have gotten me pretty good,” Watson said, smiling, “because I didn’t do anything to verify.”
Persuaded by the Texas area code, though, Watson embraced the welcome to Kansas City that included an invitation to an informal camp Mahomes planned to hold with a revamped receiving corps in his native state.
If Watson was delighted by the development, turns out the feeling was promptly reciprocated.
After the first day of throwing to him, among better-known new targets like Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mahomes called general manager Brett Veach.
“I was, like, ‘Wait, how fast is this guy?’” Mahomes recalled in May. “He was running so fast that I was late on my throws.”
So we know “that dude can roll,” as Mahomes put it then.
And now chances are the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Watson will earn a role with the Chiefs.
Not only as a potential key cog of what special teams coordinator Dave Toub calls “a complete reset” of that element of the team but also as a possible fifth receiver behind the aforementioned duo, Mecole Hardman and rookie Skyy Moore.
“The quarterback, he trusts him, which is a plus,” coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday.
Reid also described Watson as a “big kid. Tall. Fast. Smart. Penn grad, right, so he’s got capacity there.”
Which brings us to our preoccupation with Watson.
Because a long, long time ago, I had some of the sorts of experiences he had at the University of Pennsylvania.
Except for I played “left out,” as a reserve wide receiver who seldom got on the field.
