NBC Sports: Watson, who was the starting tight end for the Browns last season and caught 49 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns, has signed with the Saints. Pairing Watson with Jimmy Graham will give the Saints one of the best 1-2 punches at tight end in the NFL. ...Watson isn’t quite the explosive athlete and deep threat in the passing game that Graham is, but Watson is both a good receiver and a good blocker, and the Saints will be able to create a lot of matchup problems in two-tight end formations.
Pro Football Focus stats for 2012 season: Watson caught of 49 of 52 catchable balls thrown at him - 94.2% Compare to: Dallas Clark - 47 of 50 - 94.0% Aaron Hernandez - 51 of 61 - 83.6% Marcedes Lewis - 52 of 58 - 89.7% Kyle Rudolph - 53 of 59 - 89.9% Rob Gronkowski - 55 of 62 - 88.7% Dennis Pitta - 61 of 64 - 95.3% Jermichael Finley - 61 of 70 - 87.1% Jimmy Graham - 85 of 100 - 85.0% Tony Gonzalez - 93 of 97 - 95.9% Jason Witten - 110 of 118 - 93.2%
Here's Benjamin Watson with a very Malcolm Jenkins'esque play. He knocks the piss out of Champ Bailey who never saw him coming.
NFL.com writes that the Saints now have the 2nd-best TE duo in the NFL... (Ben Watson) ...averaged 558 yards per in three seasons with the Cleveland Browns ... An upgrade on the increasingly brittle (David) Thomas, Watson can step in and provide a valuable weapon down the seam and in the red zone ... With Robert Meachem long gone and free agent Devery Henderson's Saints career in doubt, Watson also gives head coach Sean Payton the option of using more two tight- end sets as opposed to three- and four-wide formations. While no team can match the Patriots' Rob Gronkowski- Aaron Hernandez tag team at the position, the Saints now have a more imposing tight-end tandem than the other 30 NFL teams.
USA Today: Saints ink Ben Watson to three-year deal While everyone had their focus on the New Orleans' Saints courting Nnamdi Asomugha, a pretty darn good player sneaked into the facility and signed a three-year deal.
Tweet by Adam Caplan on the Watson to Saints news: Adam Caplan @caplannfl Heck of a #2 TE. Wow. Caplan is a Philadelphia based reporter, who is in his 12th season of covering the NFL on a national basis. Caplan can be heard nationally on Monday and Friday’s on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio (XM 87/Sirius 210) from 2-5 pm ET all year. You can also hear him in various local NFL markets such as Minneapolis (KFAN 1130 AM) and Houston (Sports Radio 790 AM). Caplan is also a contributing NFL analyst for Philadelphiaeagles.com
tweets from Cleveland Brown fans: Josh @Believeland16 Jimmy Graham and Watson. I'm sorry but that's pretty scary. Benjamin Fast @Ben_Fast #Saints got a nice pick up in Ben Watson. That team has gotten a lot better. Febreze @FreshestCallari Brees is gunna make us look dumb for not resigning him TheSportsFixWHK @TheSportsFixWHK (1420 AM WHK, The home for Cleveland sports talk) Wish we had kept him GABE SPIEGEL @GABESPIEGEL (Anchor/Reporter for Fox 8 Cleveland) Lost a good one. Tom Withers @twithersAP (AP Sports Writer covering Cleveland Browns) Will miss @BenjaminSWatson Adam Taylor @ATunes84 Will miss u in CLE Michael @HolyBuckeyeOSU he will be missed here in CLE! NFL Browns Fans @NFL_BrownsFans Sad to see him go Adam Copeland @exiledclevelndr #Browns will miss him next year Madeline Rastatter @Rastweeter Awww Ben Watson signed with the Saints (( I love @BenjaminSWatson
Anthony Becht @Anthony_Becht Great sign by the #Saints (Becht is former 1st Round TE who played TE in the NFL for 12 seasons (3 with the Bucs), and is Co-host of the Bucs Pre & PostGame Show for Sports Radio WDAE 620 AM -- "Tampa Bay's Sports Station," "Home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers")
more tweets: Jimmy Kempski @Jimmy_Beast -- Founder of Blogging the bEast (NFCE), contributor at BGN (Eagles) and the Allentown Morning Call. Ruh roh. Watson and Graham sounds like a difficult TE duo to stop NFL: AroundTheLeague @NFL_ATL Addition of Ben Watson gives @Saints one of the NFL's most imposing tight-end tandems ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk Ben Watson and Jimmy Graham will give the Saints one of the NFL's best tight end pairings On The Jon @BlogOnTheJon Signing TE Benjamin Watson gives the @Saints a pretty scary tight end duo for @drewbrees to work with. Brett Ragas @_MalibuB ben watson makes the saints offense even more scary tyler deagano @tylerdeagano Saints just signed TE Benjamin Watson...Brees is gonna pick defenses apart even more than he has #Deadly Brett Guidroz @BrettGuidroz Saints have Jimmy Graham AND Ben Watson! Drew Brees will have a field day against defenses Spencer Davis @ESPNcer That has to be one of the best TE tandrems in the league Aaron Stafford @aaronstafford_ the #Saints signing Ben Watson is huge. Two big time talent tight ends on an offense that is already stacked. Dan Hope @Dan_Hope Graham-Watson will be a strong tight end duo in New Orleans. Steve B. @SteveB41 Watson and Graham = awesome TE duo Christian Marin @xianmarin Watson and Jimmy Graham are going to be an unreal duo. Patrick Clay @patrickclay10 A Jimmy Graham/Ben Watson 1-2 punch at TE will be dangerous. #Saints Robert Jackson @Jekyll_Hyde87 We may be on the cusp of a new era of TE tandems. #Patriots Hernandez and Gronk first, now Watson w/ Graham Cyrus Geller @cyrusgel35 Ben Watson signing with the Saints could be big..maybe their offense can function like Pats with 2 TE's making mismatches all over the place angelo @kidkanYeWSSW I guess the Saints are going to try running the 2 TE scheme like the Patriots do after signing ex Brown/Patriot, Ben Watson. David Kromelow @dkrom59 NOLA trying to emulate Pats 1-2 TE punch Adam Begoun @ambegoun Huge sign for the @Saints. Graham and Watson on the line together is bad news for NFL defenses. Dawgs By Nature @DawgsByNature nice tandem between he and Jimmy Graham Richie Bradshaw @NFL_Bradshaw #Saints offense just got a lot more dynamic with the addition of Ben Watson to the Tight End spot across from Jimmy Graham Nnaemeka #34☝ @Nigerian_Dunker Saints will be set at Tight End, Graham and now Watson too Brad James @BroncosItaly I'm sure @DrewBrees is happy Michael @MJH3Bucs Yikes man. Good pickup IWasHacked_ @Abstract_cool Damn Saints signed Benjamin Watson Miah Montana @Miah_thegreat Wow. Saints got Ben Watson Dwayne Poche @Dwayne_Poche Saints sign B. Watson ... Hmm this should be good Jalen Trimacco @JTrimacco9 Ben Watson is gonna eat with the Saints. Robert Frank Martin @manW3_1stnames HUGE Daniel Dees @dandeesisajerk A+ move Matthew Schwerha @MatthewSchwerha Rich get richer. Frank Midolo @FranksYanks23 What a pickup for Saints William ツ @LegendaryMonk thats a great pick up Tristan's Dad @ChampIAN_33 underrated part of Watson signing for Saints is that Ingram was a much better runner out of 2TE Singleback at BAMA. Will be #1 RB Steve Geller @SteveGellerWWL WWL AM/FM - Sports Talk Producer / Writer /Reporter LOVE this move
here's what Watson ranked in the receiving categories during his three years with the Browns: RECEIVING YARDS 2012 (QB Brandon Weeden) 805 -- WR Josh Gordon (first year with Browns) 647 -- WR Greg Little (second year with Browns) 501 -- TE Ben Watson (third year with Browns) 367 -- RB Trent Richardson 298 -- WR Travis Benjamin (first year with Browns) 254 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (fourth year with Browns) 2011 (QB Colt McCoy) 709 -- WR Greg Little (first year with Browns) 518 -- WR Josh Cribbs (with Browns from 2005-2012) 410 -- TE Ben Watson (second year with Browns) 324 -- WR Evan Moore (third year with Browns) 384 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (third year with Browns) 268 -- WR Jordan Norwood (first year with Browns) 2010 (QB Colt McCoy) 763 -- TE Ben Watson (first year with Browns) 483 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (second year with Browns) 477 -- RB Peyton Hillis 346 -- WR Chansi Stuckey (second year with Browns) 322 -- WR Evan Moore (second year with Browns) 310 -- WR Brian Robiskie (second year with Browns) RECEPTIONS 2012 (QB Brandon Weeden) 53 -- WR Greg Little (second year with Browns) 51 -- RB Trent Richardson 50 -- WR Josh Gordon (first year with Browns) 49 -- TE Ben Watson (third year with Browns) 24 -- RB Chris Ogbonnaya 18 -- WR Travis Benjamin (first year with Browns) 2011 (QB Colt McCoy) 61 -- WR Greg Little (first year with Browns) 41 -- WR Josh Cribbs (with Browns from 2005-2012) 37 -- TE Ben Watson (second year with Browns) 34 -- WR Evan Moore (third year with Browns) 31 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (third year with Browns) 23 -- WR Jordan Norwood (first year with Browns) 2010 (QB Colt McCoy) 68 -- TE Ben Watson (first year with Browns) 61 -- RB Peyton Hillis 40 -- WR Chansi Stuckey (second year with Browns) 36 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (second year with Browns) 29 -- WR Brian Robiskie (second year with Browns) 23 -- WR Josh Cribbs (with Browns from 2005-2012) RECEIVING TDS 2012 (QB Brandon Weeden) 5 -- WR Josh Gordon (first year with Browns) 4 -- WR Greg Little (second year with Browns) 3 -- TE Ben Watson (third year with Browns) 2 -- WR Travis Benjamin (first year with Browns) 1 -- RB Trent Richardson 1 -- TE Jordan Cameron (second year with Browns) 2011 (QB Colt McCoy) 4 -- WR Josh Cribbs (with Browns from 2005-2012) 4 -- WR Evan Moore (third year with Browns) 2 -- TE Ben Watson (second year with Browns) 2 -- WR Greg Little (first year with Browns) 2 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (third year with Browns) 1 -- WR Jordan Norwood (first year with Browns) 1 -- TE Alex Smith (first year with Browns) 2010 (QB Colt McCoy) 3 -- TE Ben Watson (first year with Browns) 3 -- WR Brian Robiskie (second year with Browns) 2 -- WR Mohamed Massaquoi (second year with Browns) 2 -- RB Peyton Hillis 1 -- WR Josh Cribbs (with Browns from 2005-2012) 1 -- WR Evan Moore (second year with Browns) 1 -- TE Robert Royal (second year with Browns) Cleveland Browns tight end Benjamin Watson (82) battles Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne (24) during the second half of a Cowboys game Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012 in Cowboy Stadium
