WR Winston Watkins, Cousin of Sammy Watkins, Already Turning Heads in Florida
Sammy Watkins had one of the most illustrious careers in the history of Clemson football.
He burst onto the scene in 2011 as a five-star recruit out of Florida, becoming just the fourth player in the history of college football to be named an AP first-team All-American as a freshman. During his three-year career at Clemson, Watkins accumulated more than 3,700 yards from scrimmage and accounted for 29 total touchdowns.
Now there is another member of the Watkins family starting to turn heads in recruiting circles. Winston Watkins, the cousin of the former Clemson standout, grabbed the attention of the SI All-American staff recently at a 7v7, 15U event held in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Watkins is set to be a member of the 2025 recruiting class, so there is still a long way to go as far as his development and his recruitment goes. However, SI All-American notes there is already a lot to like about the young prospect out of Fort Myers, Florida.
SI All-American Analysis: ATH/WR Winston Watkins, 5-foot-10, 160 (2025)
Maybe the most dynamic athlete when juking defenders or simply running by them, Watkins is a prototypical playmaker. Natural ball skills when it’s a 50-50 ball down the sideline, Watkins can take the top off a defense or catch a five-yard hitch and make three defenders miss and score.
Watkins played high school football as a mere eighth-grader, and he absolutely tore it up. He’s too fast and too quick for the lower-level players he went against. Now playing against more players with at least similar talent, and he’s still standing out as his hands and athleticism allow him to make plays in space just like this past season for Evangelical Christian.
Watkins is indeed related to Sammy Watkins, in case you were wondering. It’s an athletic family and there is chatter suggesting this young man could be the best of the entire group. That’s saying something.