Danny Watkins talks exclusively to Sportsnet.ca about being a top prospect at the NFL draft.
Danny Watkins will soon be living the Canadian dream playing professional sports, but the native of Kelowna, B.C. won’t be doing it on the ice, even though hockey is in his background.
Watkins is scheduled to be selected in the second round and potentially the first in the National Football League draft, which begins April 28 in New York. Watkins, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive lineman, has already been invited by the NFL to attend the draft, one of only 35 players who have been granted that honour. One NFL draft guru has Watkins rated as the top guard. He has developed a reputation as mean and nasty on the field and readily admits to enjoying flattening opposing players.
Watkins isn’t sure in what round he will be chosen, but isn’t too concerned about it. He’s just happy to be in his current position.
"I got an invite (from the NFL) to New York City, and the guy I had spoken to sees me going anywhere from 27th to 35," he said in an exclusive interview with Sportsnet.ca. "I’m not sure how they justify it or how it works. I’m just excited I got an invitation to go there. Right now my goal is to go in the second (round). If I go in the first I’d be more than ecstatic, but I’m going to be more than ecstatic if I go in the second. It’s all good."
Watkins is currently in the midst of a busy itinerary, meeting the management and coaching staff of teams interested in drafting him. He expects to be flown to some 10 teams, although he’s been asked not to name them. So he’ll either be drafted by a team that finished well in the playoffs – and potentially the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers – or one of the lower-echelon squads. He had interviews at the NFL combine with 24 of the 30 teams.
His agent is retired NFL offensive lineman Joe Panos, who played with Philadelphia and Buffalo and is now the director of football operations for Lock Metz Malinovic Sports Management.
Watkins’ story is fascinating on so many different levels. He didn’t play any football in high school in B.C., and had been known for his hockey skills – a 6-foot-3, 275-pound defenceman who was considered the designated goon, roughing up the opposition and starting fights.
"That was my job," he said somewhat proudly. "I could skate, but I just knocked the heck out of people who were unfortunate to be standing in front of the net. That was my job."
His parents got sick of coming to his games and seeing him sit in the penalty box. He was a decent skater and was sought after by some provincial junior B teams in B.C. His passion happened to be firefighting, which he had done for several years in Kelowna, and which he still speaks proudly, saying it taught him some life skills.
"The station that I was at, that was a really busy station. There wasn’t too many dull days out there," he says. "I kind of miss it to tell you the truth."
He wanted to continue his firefighting studies, so he enrolled in Butte Community College in California, which had a quality program in fire sciences, at age 22 and with the objective of working full-time as a firefighter after graduation. But he also wanted to continue in some physical fitness activity at Butte, and when approached to play football Watkins knew if he became a starter he had a chance to receive a partial scholarship. After two impressive years, he transferred to Baylor, a Division 1 university in Texas which had become a factory for developing offensive linemen. Watkins replaced Jason Smith, who was selected second overall by the St. Louis Rams in 2009. Last year, the team’s centre, J.D. Walton, was selected in the third round by the Denver Broncos and started every game. Now it is Watkins’ turn to continue the Baylor offensive lineman legacy, fellow linemate Philip Blake, who is also Canadian, is scheduled to be selected in the first round of the upcoming Canadian draft.
"It’s been a whirlwind," Watkins said of his four-year ascension from an unknown, raw football player to a potential first-round pick. "I’m trying to stay focused and keep plugging away, but it’s kind of crazy how it’s all come about. I definitely didn’t see this was going to happen."
On the advice of his agent, he showed his versatility in the Senior Bowl playing guard instead of his tackle spot and took some reps in practices leading up to the game as a centre. He is projected more as an NFL guard than a tackle. He followed up his strong showing in the game with an impressive performance at the NFL Combine and was rated highly among players whose stock rose. He didn’t go into either the Senior Bowl or the Combine with any expectations, but figured if he did well it would improve his rating.
He is 26, which is older than the majority of graduating seniors or players who sacrificed their final year to declare themselves for the draft, and is somewhat of a late-blooming/late-developing athlete. He is also considerably fresh in terms of battle.
"I’ve only played two years of Division 1 football and I’ve done pretty well with it and I don’t have the wear and tear on my body that other guys do, so I don’t know what you would call that to tell you the truth," he said. "I don’t feel like I’m 26 years old right now. I feel really healthy and good and a lot of NFL teams actually really like that. The only bad press I’m really getting on that is from the media. It’s kind of funny because I’ve started reading that and the teams I’ve been meeting with and the people I’ve been talking to really like (the lack of wear and tear for his age). They praise it. I’m not too worried about it at all. I don’t know where my peak performance is. I know I’m not close to it by any means. It’s just going to come with coaching and experience. I’m kind of looking forward to these next couple of years for sure."
He was selected fourth overall last year by the B.C. Lions, who couldn’t have projected at the time that Watkins’ status would have shot up so significantly. As is stands, the Lions will be lucky if Watkins ever surfaces with their team. All things being equal, he is looking at a long career with a huge salary. Watkins has the potential to become the first Canadian since Queen’s Mike Schad in 1986 to be a first-round selection in the CFL and NFL Draft.
"It was an honour and privilege, that’s for sure," he said of the Lions selecting him last year. "It was pretty neat that it happened. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to play professional football. It was a good feeling at the time. We were just starting to get a new coaching staff, a new team, in there, so it was an easy decision for me to come back, but honestly I wasn’t trying to look too far down the road. It was good to know I was drafted by the Lions.
"I feel very honoured and very blessed. I think a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work is paying off. I’m going to just keep rolling with it and not analyze it too much and just let the pieces fall."
Although the NFL is currently at an impasse with its players over a new collective bargaining agreement, Watkins is convinced there will be a football season this year based on conversations with players, agents and coaches.
"They’ve assured me there’s going to be a football season. There’s no way they’re going to cancel it," Watkins said. "It’s just too good of a thing for them not to come to some sort of agreement before September. It’s just disappointing I’m not going to get out and make the team right away and do the rookie (off-season organized team workouts). It’s going to be on me to learn as much as I can."
