Markees Watts
| No. 58 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | December 7, 1999 Lancaster, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Lancaster | ||||||
| College | Charlotte (2018–2022) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 2023 (undrafted) | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
* Offseason or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Markees Watts (born December 7, 1999) is an American former professional football linebacker. He played college football for the Charlotte 49ers and was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
Early life
[edit]Watts 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
[edit]As 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 | Wingspan | 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) | 6 ft 8+5⁄8 in (2.05 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] | ||||||||||||
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
[edit]Watts signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2023.[4] In his three years with Tampa, Watts was a primary special teamer through 27 games played.
Cleveland Browns
[edit]On May 19, 2026, Watts signed with the Cleveland Browns.[7] He retired from professional football on June 2.[8]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Markees Watts". ESPN.
- ↑ Foster, Bryson (August 31, 2021). "Forged by Fire: Watts looks to step up for Charlotte defense". Niner Times.
- 1 2 McCormick, Brett (September 6, 2017). "Lancaster's Watts has senior season derailed on first play". The Rock Hill Herald. p. B2 – via Newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Auman, Greg (August 23, 2023). "Markees Watts was passed over by every team. The edge rusher is blowing the Bucs away". Fox News.
- 1 2 3 4 "Markees Watts". Charlotte 49ers.
- ↑ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Markees Watts College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ↑ "Browns sign WR Aaron Anderson, LB Reid Carrico and DE Markees Watts". ClevelandBrowns.com. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
- ↑ Camino, Tony (June 2, 2026). "Browns Placing DE Markees Watts On Retired List". NFL Trade Rumors. Retrieved June 18, 2026.