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Christian Watson NFL Draft Profile
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Christian Watson Scouting ReportChristian is a ludicrous speed merchant for his size. He has an official 4.44 40-yard dash time from high school, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him replicate or beat that comfortably during official testing. Watson decimates coverage with his ability to breeze past opponents with ease. Furthermore, Watson accelerates quickly, ensuring he can gain separation at all three levels of the field rather than just in the deep third. Watson’s speed makes him an incredibly versatile NFL Draft prospect. He’s been used in almost every conceivable offensive alignment. Watson has been deployed outside both to the boundary and field, in the slot, and in the backfield. NDSU utilizes him in motion in a multitude of ways. Additionally, he’s a dangerous kick returner. With the ball in his hands, Watson has many appealing qualities. He possesses an arsenal of skill moves, including hurdles, jukes, and cuts. Christian is also extremely physical, possessing a nasty stiff-arm to fend off opponents. This physicality is also demonstrated by how difficult he is to bring down. Watson showcases impressive contact balance, rarely being stopped on the first attempt. Watson showcases good route-running ability. At the point of the catch, he demonstrates good ball-tracking ability, body control, and spatial awareness. As a three-level threat, there are multiple examples on film of him being able to secure the ball in traffic coming across the middle of the field. As a size, speed, and versatility threat, Watson should have multiple suitors in the 2022 NFL Draft. His phenomenal return ability could see him earn an early special-teams role at the next level. |
Areas for ImprovementWatson has shown during his time in Fargo that he understands what it takes to be successful at a given level. During the games studied, there were multiple examples of drops in contested-catch situations. For a player listed at 6’5″ who demonstrates physicality in other areas of the game, you’d expect this area to be a strength. He needs to remain focused on the catch throughout the process. This could also be a by-product of a propensity to rely on his body to secure the catch rather than routinely plucking the ball out of the air with his hands. Watson isn’t always sudden in movements. He can be guilty of rounding off his routes rather than being a twitch athlete. He’s shown the ability to change direction with cuts — Watson just needs to ensure he routinely maximizes his athletic potential. One area that Watson can’t impact is the perception of his level of competition. Watching his college tape is often like watching high school footage where one kid is stupidly bigger and faster than the rest. The competition at the next level will be significantly better, so can Watson continue to be dominant against that elevated competition?
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Christian Watson Career at SchoolWith just two years of starting experience at the high school level, Watson unsurprisingly redshirted his first season in Fargo. He clearly had speed and ability but needed to consistently pull the two together on the football field as Bison head coach Matt Entz would reflect on later in Watson’s NDSU career. That development began to take shape in 2018, Watson’s redshirt sophomore season. He saw action in all 14 games, earning two starts against Northern Iowa and Montana State. He tallied 9 receptions for 165 yards during the season, including a season-long 48-yard catch against Southern Illinois. Christian also showed the first signs of his ability to impact the game in multiple ways, with his first two career kick returns. The FCS world began to understand what Watson was all about in 2019. Starting 11 games, he earned second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference recognition after leading the team with 732 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Impressively, he finished second in the conference with 21.53 yards per catch. Watson tallied 964 all-purpose yards that included a 70-yard rushing score and 75-yard receiving touchdown in the FCS playoffs. Watson’s all-purpose ability came to the forefront again in the disjointed 2020-2021 campaign. As part of an 896-scrimmage yard campaign, he returned kickoffs to the house against Northern Iowa and Sam Houston State. His 229-yard day against UNI earned him the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week. It was the first of many accolades as Watson was named first-team All-Conference at receiver and an All-American kick returner by multiple outlets. Although he received attention in the last NFL Draft class, Watson opted to return to Fargo for one more season. Christian set career highs for receiving yards, tearing up Northern Iowa once more, this time to the tune of 163 yards. His 740 receiving yards, 120 rushing yards, and 210 kick return yards — despite missing time with a hamstring injury — are a testament to Watson’s ability to impact the game in multiple ways. |
Christian Watson NFL Draft Player ProfileAlthough North Dakota State has been a regular supplier of talent to the NFL from the FCS level, you have to go back to 1985 to find the last time they had a wide receiver drafted. All that could change in the 2022 NFL Draft, with NDSU WR Christian Watson one of the top FCS prospects in the class. Just how high can he go? Watson’s scouting report reveals a size and speed threat with the versatility to be a genuine difference-maker at the NFL level.
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