Chris Godwin: YAC MAN
Chris Godwin is a killer at WR.
But you know that by now. Unless you’re one of the many new followers of the Team. In that case, welcome aboard the Chris Godwin Bandwagon.
It’s impossible not to like this young fella. He’s driven. He loves and rescues dogs. Tom Brady, without having played a single snap of competitive football with him, has commended him repeatedly for his maturity.
But what you should really be excited about is his play on the field and his potential to be even better. With just 3 seasons under his belt, Godwin is already one of the toughest guys to contain in the League. And it’s largely due to his versatility. He can line up anywhere on the field and be productive.
Beyond his versatility, I think the biggest part of Godwin’s game is his toughness.
Toughness can definitely come across as hyperbole and/or rhetoric. But in Godwin’s case it’s not.
In 2019, the young fella racked up 577 yards after the catch. That was good for 6th most in the League.
He averaged 7.1 yards after catch per reception(YAC/R). That put him at the #4 ranking among WRs according to ProFootballOutsiders.com. Tom Brady was throwing the 3 guys ranked in the Bottom 20 in the same metric last season.
Standing at 6’1, and weighing in at 210lbs, Chris Godwin isn’t the most intimidating WR on paper. But that doesn’t stop him from being among the most physical.
He’s also not the fastest in the League, but he’s just as likely to break away from a defender as anyone. Prior to the 2017 NFL Combine, one of the knocks on Godwin was the lack of breakaway speed. Somehow, that remained a talking point even after his performance against USC in the Rose Bowl where he KILLED the Trojan secondary for 187 yards on 9 catches for 2 TDs.
He surprised some of his harshest critics when he ran a 4.42 at the Combine. And yet it was still questioned whether or not he could break away at the NFL level. That questioned was answered early in his career.
Godwin’s ability to repeatedly get yards after the catch is attributed to his relentless physicality. He just doesn’t take it easy on any plays .
He goes hard after every catch. It just wears on a defense. It’s not often one defender brings him down. At least, not on the first attempt.
With a 10.4 average target of air yards, the 2nd lowest among WRs within Top 10 of YAR, Godwin is a straight up BULLY after the catch. The only guy better is named after a character known for commandeering bikes from scared and innocent neighbors and snatching a fool’s chain at will.
Throw in the fact that Godwin also has the 5th highest catch percentage among WRs in the League(71%) and one could say this type of effort and ability from a player should alleviate the concerns of a QB having to repeatedly attempt deep balls in order to produce big yardage.
Godwin put up some gaudy stats and benchmarks over his first few years. And he did so with two of the most volatile QBs in recent memory. Now paired with a more accurate and decisive QB, we may see an even more dangerous Chris Godwin going forward.
