Rookie Christian Watson Drops Opening Bomb vs. Vikings

Everything was set up for Christian Watson to have a memorable debut for the Green Bay Packers. And he did, but not the way he wanted.

MINNEAPOLIS – Sunday’s game – and Sunday’s first play – were what Green Bay Packers rookie Christian Watson had dreamed about for the vast majority of his 23 years.

Making his NFL debut, Watson was in the starting lineup for his NFL debut on Sunday at the Minnesota Vikings. And one-on-one with future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson. And, to top it off, the first play was set up just for Watson.

It was a dream scenario. And a nightmarish ending.

Having beaten Peterson by at least 3 yards, Watson dropped what should have been a 75-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. The Packers, trailing 7-0 at the time, lost 23-7.

“It’s tough, obviously,” Watson said. “I missed the first one. You don’t know how many more you’re going to have. You’re assuming there’s going to be a lot more, obviously. It’s the first one. It obviously was tough. It’s a play that I know I can make. I just go forward knowing that I’ve made that play 100 times in the past and I’m going to make it the next time it comes my way.”

In this year’s draft, the Packers traded away their two second-round draft picks – to the Vikings, no less – to rocket up to No. 34 overall to grab Watson. With a freakish combination of size and speed, he has a potentially dominant skill-set. The knock on him coming out of North Dakota State was he dropped too many passes, though that was more of an issue early in his career than as a senior.

The Packers can only hope it will be a rare miscue.

Watson finished the day with two receptions for 34 yards, including a 25-yarder. He added a 7-yard run and delivered at least a couple quality blocks. But the play to remember is the one that got away.

Had Watson caught the ball at the 30 and blown away the aging Peterson in a race to the end zone, who knows how the outcome of the game could have changed. Rodgers said he doesn’t like pondering what-if hypotheticals, though he did, noting Watson’s drop and his own decision to not keep the ball on fourth-and-goal at the 1 were huge factors in the 16-point loss.

“I thought Christian ran a great route to start the game,” Rodgers said. “We talked about it during the week: ‘Do you really want to start off with a bomb shot?’ I said, ‘Yeah, what the hell, why not? This kid can really fly, let’s give him a chance.’ I was teasing Patrick after the game, I said we got him; he said, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t quite warmed up yet.’ But we’ve got to make those plays.”

Watson was “appreciative” of getting the first-play opportunity but obviously incredibly disappointed by the result. On the sideline afterward, he got some pats on the back and encouraging words from his teammates.

No different than former Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who also dropped some big-play opportunities, Watson will get more chances. He’s got a game-changing skill-set – something that’s in short supply among the team’s pass-catchers.

“There is a lot of things that we can grow from and build from, so I think that is a big positive itself,” he said. “We are only up from here. Me, personally, it’s good to get the first one out of the way and I am excited to continue to look forward.”