Markees Watts (born December 7, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Charlotte 49ers and was signed by the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
| No. 58 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 7, 1999 Lancaster, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Lancaster (Lancaster, South Carolina) | ||||||||
| College: | Charlotte (2018–2022) | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2023 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Injured reserve | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||
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Early life
editWatts was born on December 7, 1999, and grew up in Lancaster, South Carolina.[1][2] He attended Lancaster High School and earned back-to-back regional defensive player of the year awards as a sophomore and junior, after having compiled 27 sacks during that time.[3] He had a season-ending injury on the first play of his senior season.[3] Ranked a two-star recruit, he committed to play college football for the Charlotte 49ers.[4]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Charlotte in 2018, Watts played all 12 games and had two tackles.[5] The following year, he started all 13 games and placed third in the conference with 9.5 sacks, being named honorable mention All-Conference USA.[5] He played five games, one as a starter, in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.[5] In 2021, he started all 12 games and led them in tackles-for-loss (9.0) and placed second in sacks (4.0).[5]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0+1⁄2 in (1.84 m) |
234 lb (106 kg) |
33 in (0.84 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.74 s | 1.69 s | 2.73 s | 4.42 s | 7.09 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) |
10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) |
23 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[6] | ||||||||||||
Watts signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2023.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Markees Watts". ESPN.
- ^ Foster, Bryson (August 31, 2021). "Forged by Fire: Watts looks to step up for Charlotte defense". Niner Times.
- ^ a b McCormick, Brett (September 6, 2017). "Lancaster's Watts has senior season derailed on first play". The Rock Hill Herald. p. B2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Auman, Greg (August 23, 2023). "Markees Watts was passed over by every team. The edge rusher is blowing the Bucs away". Fox News.
- ^ a b c d "Markees Watts". Charlotte 49ers.
- ^ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Markees Watts College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
