No one loves elite athletes in the draft quite like Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.
After taking two of the most athletic defensive front seven players in the 2022 NFL draft class during the first round on Thursday night, Gutekunst and the Packers traded up in the second round to get one of the most athletic wide receiver prospects ever to enter the NFL to kick off Friday.
North Dakota State receiver Christian Watson, the 34th overall pick, joined Georgia linebacker Quay Walker (No. 22) and Georgia defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt (No. 28) to form a truly elite trio of athletes that will headline the Packers’ 2022 draft class.
Relative Athletic Score is a measure created by Kent Lee Platte to measure the true athleticism of prospects in relation to size and compared to past players.
Walker, Wyatt and Watson all tested out at 9.5 out of 10 or higher, meaning all three are 95 percentile athletes or better at their respective positions.
Watson checks in in the 99th percentile for athleticism among receivers entering the NFL. He combined great size with elite explosion numbers (vertical, broad jump), elite speed (40-yard dash) and good agility. Even at 6-4, he hit 38.5″ in the vertical jump (91st percentile), covered 11-4 in the broad jump (99th percentile), finished the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds (97th percentile) and had a 10-yard split of 1.45 seconds (99th percentile).
Who are the best athletic comparisons for Watson? Check them out below:
Receivers as athletic as Watson usually pan out. He’ll have a chance to be very, very good. Javon Walker, the Packers’ last first-round pick at wide receiver, is actually a terrific comparison.
Watson is just an alien athlete. Here’s his spider chart at Mockdraftable:
Christian Watson is an alien pic.twitter.com/ptbmGFxTus
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) March 21, 2022
The Packers got themselves a rare and exciting athlete with their highest pick at wide receiver since Walker in 2002.
