Markees Watts : Early years, College career, Professional career Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Markees Watts

American football player (born 1999)

American football player

Markees Watts

No. 58 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Position:

Outside linebacker

Personal information

Born:

(1999-12-07) December 7, 1999 (age 24)
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

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2023–present)

Roster status:

Active

Career NFL statistics as of 2023

Total tackles:	4
Sacks:	1.0
Forced fumbles:	0

Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Markees Watts (born December 7, 1999) is an American 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.

Early years

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

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

Pre-draft measurables
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

^ "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.