NFL Draft watch: North Dakota State鈥檚 Christian Watson
Editor’s note: The Green Bay Packers selected WR Christian Watson with the No. 34 pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft on April 29.
FARGO, N.D. (BVM) 鈥� Robert Weiner is currently the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Toledo but recently he got a call that took him back to his time as head coach of Plant High School in Tampa, Florida.
The call was from a coach that had worked at one of the big colleges in Florida back when Weiner was at Plant to tell him he was right about Christian Watson.
鈥淚 did have one of the guys that was there call me the other day,鈥� Weiner said. 鈥淲hen he saw Christian at the combine and said, 鈥楥oach you told us that this kid would be a superstar in college and that this kid would play in the NFL one day.鈥欌��
The coach was referring to Watson, the wide receiver out of North Dakota State and Plant High School. Since announcing his entrance into the NFL Draft, Watson has been one of the rising stars of the draft process.
At the Senior Bowl, he showed that he could compete against the best and thrive. Then at the combine, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound wide receiver had a Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) of 9.96 which is the best among receivers this year and one of the best since 1987. Watson ran a 4.36 40-yard dash, measured in with a 32 1/2″ wingspan and 10 1/8″ hand size with a 38.5鈥� vertical.
鈥淭his is a guy that deserves to have this moment,鈥� Weiner said.
Watson has certainly worked hard to get where he was but has not always been in the limelight. Playing for NDSU in the FCS doesn鈥檛 always garner a lot of attention and at Plant High School, he was a bit of a late bloomer who was playing with multiple highly-touted college recruits.
However, Weiner saw something in Watson and so he made a call to his contacts at the collegiate level to tell them about a kid that had all the potential in the world.
鈥淚 told all the guys from Florida, Florida State and Miami,鈥� Weiner said. 鈥淚 said on this one, 鈥業鈥檝e been around a long time and you鈥檙e going to have to trust me on this because he doesn鈥檛 really have any junior film to speak of but this鈥檒l be a guy that plays on Sundays someday and be really, really successful.鈥� A guy that you鈥檒l say, 鈥楬ow did we let this guy go to North Dakota?鈥欌��
However, Weiner does understand how Watson got to North Dakota. He was a 5-foot-9 junior with little game film. It was during the time between his junior and senior years that Watson began to turn into a player that looked like he would end playing on Sundays.
鈥淚t really was the start of that offseason between junior and senior year where we started to see these sparks of physical growth, mental growth, emotional growth and social growth,鈥� Weiner said. 鈥淚 said to someone at that time that all his worlds are merging and colliding at the same time and this kid is ready to take off.鈥�
He grew three inches, started to hit the weight room in a serious way and really worked on improving his talents as a wide receiver.
Watson did take off that season but he was still playing with high-level recruits like Whop Philyor, Juwan Burgess, Thomas Allen, Micah McFadden and sophomore Judge Culpepper. Phylor was the primary target amongst receivers but Watson still averaged over 17 yards per reception.
鈥淐hristian always seemed to be the one that every time there was a really, really big moment or a big play to be had, Christian was the one who was there for that moment,鈥� Weiner said.
鈥淗e didn鈥檛 have a million catches but all of those catches counted that he had and it was probably something that characterized his senior year.鈥�
Plant made it to the state championship that year but Watson still lacked the attention he was hoping to receive from colleges. He had seen his brother get that attention in high school leading to him playing at Illinois and then Maryland. His teammates were also getting big time DI looks. It led to frustration, but Watson changed his perspective.
鈥淚 think when he kind of changed his perspective鈥 think that鈥檚 when he started taking advantage of all that he had in front of him,鈥� Weiner said.
Rather than focus on the colleges that weren鈥檛 calling, he focused on the one that had been there since the beginning. One of the few schools that listened when Weiner said he had a junior that could be special one day was NDSU. Watson committed and realized that he could accomplish all his dreams with the Bison.
鈥淗e saw North Dakota State as an opportunity,鈥� Weiner said.
Through it all his family and his friends have helped him. Weiner says his parents were some of the best they had in the program. His brother and sister were also successful athletes and all of them supported Watson. Making sure he was ready when his opportunity came up. As for his friends and teammates, they also supported him as he prepared for his moment. According to Weiner, all of them played a role in Watson鈥檚 rise and that ascension doesn鈥檛 seem to be ending anytime soon.
鈥淚 still think there is no doubt that his best football is still in front of him,鈥� Weiner said. 鈥淗e’s a guy who鈥檚 at a really high level right now but his ceiling is still pretty far above where he is at this moment.鈥�
