Watkins goes a long way to bolster BYU

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Oct. 7, 2004 | 10:39 a.m.

UNLV's secondary could be in deep trouble on Friday night at BYU.

Very deep trouble.

Cougars wide receiver Todd Watkins, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound transfer from Grossmont College in El Cajon, Calif., has quickly established himself as perhaps the most electrifying player in the Mountain West Conference this year.

Watkins has caught 28 passes for 538 yards (19.2 avg.) and two touchdowns. He already has catches of 50, 52, 69 and 79 yards with the latter two going for touchdowns against two of the nation's top teams, No. 1 USC and No. 21 Boise State.

Sports Illustrated magazine was so impressed that it wrote last week that Watkins "may be the best deep threat in the country."

Not bad for a guy who was recruited only by several Division I-AA schools after helping lead Helix High School to the San Diego Section CIF Division II title as a senior. Of course, he had a little company. Among his teammates were current USC standout Reggie Bush, Utah quarterback Alex Smith and UNLV cornerback Chanti Bloomer, who is redshirting this season with the Rebels.

Despite being a two-time all-San Diego County selection as well as a member of Helix High's state championship 4x100 relay team, Watkins ended up attending Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va.

"I only had a few other I-AA offers," Watkins said. "I redshirted there as a freshman, but I could see then that I was already better than the guys in front of me. So I decided to transfer to Grossmont so I could try and get some Division I offers."

After helping lead Grossmont to a 13-1 record as a sophomore and being named a first-team J.C. Gridwire All-American, Watkins was recruited by Kansas State, Oregon State and BYU among others, including USC where younger brother Travis, an offensive lineman, attends.

"USC was on and off with me," Watkins said. "But I wanted to go someplace where I would be featured and BYU was willing to do that. At the time Mike Williams was still at USC and wasn't going into the NFL draft."

Had he known that Williams would not be back at Troy this season, Watkins said would have given USC a much stronger look.

"Definitely," he said. "They're one of my favorite teams that I follow. And they have one of the best offensive coordinators around (in Norm Chow)."

But BYU coach Gary Crowton, desperate to upgrade his thin receiving corps, won out in the end.

"I thought he looked really special on film," Crowton said. "He was heavily recruited and we went after him very hard. As I saw him, he could make the one-handed catch and he just made plays when the ball was thrown to him."

Crowton, a former offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears in 1999-2000, was asked how he would compare Watkins to some of the receivers he saw during his NFL tenure.

"Todd is an outstanding receiver," Crowton said. "He's tall, fast, and goes after the football. It's hard to compare him with the NFL. If he continues to progress he'll have an opportunity to do that. Right now I want to focus on him playing well for us and he's doing a good job of that."

Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick told the Rocky Mountain News: "BYU always has good receivers, but every once in a while they come up with a really, really classy one. This guy Watkins scares you when you watch him on tape. He can fly. He was running by Southern Cal's secondary, so that tells you something."

Watkins was limited to four catches for 29 yards in BYU's 31-21 win against the Rams on Saturday night in Fort Collins as Colorado State focused most of its defensive attention on Watkins. That opened the door for true freshman wide receiver Austin Collie, a former prep teammate of UNLV quarterback Sean Steichen. Collie caught four passes for 60 yards, including a game-winning 40-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter.

"Colorado State's safety leaned a little to Todd, so we were able to throw to Austin," Crowton said. "We didn't go as deep as often as we did in the Boise State game because of the way the game went (BYU rushed for a season-high 207 yards) but that's something we can do at anytime."

Bloomer, who talks with Watkins about once a week and nearly joined him at BYU, said he has given cornerbacks Ruschard Dodd-Masters, Charles Ealy and Ernest Gordon a scouting report on his buddy.

"He is not only very fast (4.28 seconds in the 40-yard dash), but he knows how to cut extremely quick," Bloomer said. "He was a great soccer player in high school, too, and I think that has helped him when it comes to changing directions and making a quick move. And he has great hands. I've seen him make lots of one-handed catches over the years. He's a great player."