Desmond Watson is pro football’s next very big thing: a 6ft 6in, 464lb defensive tackle who is poised to become the heaviest player ever selected at the NFL draft, which takes place later this month. “He’s a unicorn,” his coach at Florida, Billy Napier, said last month. “You’ll go the rest of your career, and you’ll never be around a guy that’s that stature.
A native of Plant City, Florida, the state’s strawberry capital, Watson was the Gators’ big man on campus, a larger-than-life folk hero to match the school’s 7ft 9in basketball prospect. When Watson arrived at college, he already weighed 440lb – or about as much as a standup piano. Watson’s legend grew once he cracked the team’s starting lineup the following year. During a 2022 game against South Carolina, Watson left 89,000 fans gasping after he split a double team and ripped the ball away from his opponent in a hit reminiscent of Jadeveon Clowney’s helmet-popping hit against Michigan in the 2013 Outback Bowl. (It’s a wonder Spencer Rattler, the Gamecocks’ 6ft 1in, 218lb quarterback, managed to tackle Watson to the ground afterwards.) At last year’s Gasperilla Bowl, Watson’s college swan song, the Gators handed the ball off to him to get a first down late in the game. “I can do it all,” he said afterward.
Believe it or not, Watson actually was the smallest at birth among his six siblings – a little over 8lb. But it was only a matter of time before he filled out. That’s perhaps no surprise: his father is 6ft 4in and 300lb. His mother, a former basketball standout, is 250lb – weight she chalks up to having six kids and a lack of activity during Covid lockdowns. That said, not everyone in his family is big. “I come from a family of receivers and running backs, track athletes,” Watson said. “I think it was just destined for me to play in the interior. My older brother is 5ft 9in, 165lb.” Watson is referring to Darrian McNeal, a former University of Oregon slot receiver.
At the moment, he projects as a late-round selection or a priority free-agent signee – but it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Eagles GM Howie Roseman, who built the sport’s tallest and heaviest offensive line, snap up Watson to preserve the team’s tush-push monopoly. One could also envision Watson being selected with the very last pick in the draft and becoming the NFL’s largest ever Mr Irrelevant. But historic size doesn’t guarantee a long NFL career. Aaron Gibson, who was 410lb when the Lions made him the heaviest player ever drafted, in 1999, played five seasons and missed time every year but one because of nagging injuries.
Watson should get an opportunity to prove himself. Whether it’s a right-sized opportunity will be up to him. “I don’t care who it is,” Watson said of the teams that might draft him. “If anybody’s trying to put me in a jersey, I’m ready for it.” In a 6XL or slimmer fare, the reward could wind up dwarfing the risk.
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