Quez Watkins is used to being an underdog. A three-star recruit from Athens, Alabama and the No. 258 ranked wide receiver in the 2016 high school class, the only three Division I schools to offer him a scholarship were Central Arkansas (FCS), Georgia Southern and Southern Mississippi. He enrolled at Southern Miss and redshirted in his first year. His debut 2017 season may seem nondescript on the surface, though it’s notable that he dropped four catches and 103 yards on Kentucky, an SEC defense, in his first career game. His 337 freshman year yardage total ranks No. 8 among incoming rookies.
Quez Watkins Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile w/ College Stats
By the time Watkins finally broke out in 2018, he was 21.2 years old. His Breakout Age lands in the 31st-percentile among qualified wide receivers. He served a two-game suspension to begin 2019, which helps explain his decline in targets, receptions, Target Share and touchdowns. Luckily he improved his efficiency, recording a career-high 1,178 receiving yards and improving his Catch Rate from 66.1-percent to 71.9-percent. This all helped him record a 36.8-percent (74th-percentile) College Dominator Rating. When a receiver’s College Dominator is more heavily influenced by touchdowns than receiving yardage, it can be a red flag. Fortunately, there are signs that his Dominator was more yardage-influenced. He only scored six of his team’s 20 receiving touchdowns, and his 1.89 receiving yards per team pass attempt ranks No. 10 among this receiver class.
Check out Quez Watkins on PlayerProfiler’s Updated Rookie Rankings:
Watkins weighed 170-pounds coming out of high school and ran a verified 4.46 40-yard dash. He showed up to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine weighing 185-pounds with greatly improved long speed. In any other Henry Ruggs-less year, a 4.35 (98th-percentile) 40-yard dash would’ve been a much bigger deal. Because Watkins is only 6-0, his 101.9 Speed Score is only a 74th-percentile mark. His 124.6 (69th-percentile) Burst Score and 10.01 (53rd-percentile) Catch Radius are slightly above-average. Though it’s interesting to note that his 32 7/8-inch arms measured the longest of any player at least 6-0 and under 200-pounds. This undoubtedly improves his Catch Radius.
Expected to be a Day 3 pick, Watkins declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft was considered a surprise move. Dede Westbrook, his Best Comparable Player, was a fourth-round selection. Both players win with straight-line speed, but their relative lack of athleticism elsewhere keeps them from entering the John Brown/DeSean Jackson/T.Y. Hilton/Brandin Cooks bucket of elite speed receivers. An 11.64 (11th-percentile) Agility Score is bad, but the dynamism that Watkins displayed in the punt and kick return game speak to the notion that something was off with the agility testing in Mobile this year. He’s a Top 20 receiver in our rookie rankings pending draft capital, and a dark horse to be this year’s Darius Slayton, a Day 3 pick with the wheels to make an early-career fantasy impact.
