He's no Antone: Watkins meeting expectations

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First-round bust.

Come on, admit it. Thats what you thought.

A lot of people around these parts were ready to throw Danny Watkins on the Eagles offensive line first-round bust scrap heap not too long ago.

Right in there with Antone Davis, Bernard Williams, Lester Holmes and Kevin Allen.

Understandably so. Watkins is 26 years old, was the 23rd pick in this years draft and performed so poorly during the preseason that he was benched for Kyle DeVan a few days before opening day. Perhaps never to be seen again.

Coming into the season, I was worried for him, said rookie center Jason Kelce, one of Watkins closest friends on the team. Because mentally it just didnt look like he was there.

Watkins heard the criticisms from fans, media and elsewhere, but he didnt whine about it or cry about it. He just gritted his teeth, made the best of his demotion, and went to work to prove everybody wrong.

I definitely know that he was aware of it, said Kelce, the Eagles other rookie offensive line starter. It wasnt like he was complaining about it or saying anything about it, but I think anytime that youre aware of something like that, two things can happen -- you either crawl into a hole and pout about it or, you know what, Screw you guys, Im going to prove you wrong, Im going to show you that Im a good football player, and I think hes obviously done the latter of the two.

Yep, a funny thing happened on the way to the Eagles offensive line first-round bust scrap heap.

Watkins became a very good player.

Since winning his starting right guard job back, Watkins has shown himself to be a very tough, very physical, very smart offensive lineman. The Eagles were 1-3 without him, but theyre 2-1 with him, averaging 469 yards of offense, 202 rushing yards and 26 points in his three starts.

Sulking and pouting about it is the easy thing to do, but you cant do that if you want to survive in this industry, left guard Evan Mathis said. Danny has enough leadership and guidance from the coaches and veterans to let him know that you have what it takes to play this game. Once you get it all together, youre going to be great. And hes getting it all together now.

Watkins was a rarity in that he actually didnt seem to mind getting benched. Some interpreted that as a lack of desire, but in reality, it was just Watkins acknowledging how much work he needed to do before being ready to be an NFL starter.

The Eagles claimed DeVan off waivers from the Colts on Sept. 4, and one day later, DeVan was starting at right guard and Watkins was on the sidelines.

Without a doubt, it was the best thing for me, Watkins said before practice Thursday. Like coach (Andy Reid) said, take one step back, two steps forward. It was a positive for me, no question about it.

During his month of exile on the bench, Watkins had the luxury of watching the starters during the games and at practice and spending extra time with o-line coach Howard Mudd without the pressure of having to put everything he learned to use on the field.

And since returning to the lineup, hes looked like a different guy.

When you have a kid like Danny, whos obviously very talented and obviously a smart kid and you see it not working immediately on the field, then the obvious thing to point to and blame for that is that hes thinking too much, and I think thats what he was doing early on, Mathis said.

He wasnt sure of himself, so he wasnt really playing with max effort. Its hard to play with max effort when you dont know what youre doing and where youre going. I think the coaches made a good decision to let him take a step back and give him time to get his feet under himself, and now hes doing what were all doing, working hard every week to get better, and its very clear hes been doing that.

The Eagles offensive line, which looked like a work in progress not too long ago, now looks like one of the NFLs best.

The Eagles are No. 1 in the NFL in offense and actually on pace to break the 2000 Rams record for most total yards in a season. LeSean McCoy is having a monster season running behind this line, and when the skill guys havent turned the ball over, the Eagles have been very difficult to stop.

Whats amazing is how quickly Watkins has transformed from a potential bust into a dominating starter. Watkins was benched on Sept. 7, got his job back on Oct. 5. Now its early November, and hes playing at a consistently high level.

It speaks a lot to Danny, Kelce said. Kyle was brought in and Danny got to sit down for a little bit, and it did help him out.

It was surprising actually how much he picked up not playing. He seemed to pick up things better when he wasnt thrown into the mix. He was watching everything in practice, watching everything in the games, and thats how he became a better player.

The most interesting thing about Watkins over the last few weeks is how much more physical he is now that hes comfortable in the offense.

Once you get the mental part down, the physical part falls right into place.

Exactly, Kelce said. Dannys main problem when he first got here was that he wasnt assertive enough, he wasnt making aggressive mistakes. If youre going to make mistakes, you might as well be aggressive instead of just timid.

As his confidence has gotten better, as hes learned the offense, as hes gotten more coaching from Howard, hes gotten better and better each week. He still sometimes can be more aggressive. He has such a powerful body, such a big frame, that he should be able to knock guys back more.

This is a strange year. The Eagles opened up 1-4, their first-round pick was considered a failure, the offense was sputtering, and it looked like a lost year.

Now the Eagles have won two straight going into their Monday night home game against the Bears, the offense is No. 1 in the NFL and Watkins is mauling people.

Crazy how much can change in the NFL in just a few weeks.

When you know what youre doing and you understand the concepts and schemes, things come a lot easier, and you can play confident, Watkins said. Without a doubt, I still obviously have a long ways to go before I get to where I want to be. Its still a work in progress, but its coming.

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