Quez
Watkins.
Quez
Watkins.
Southern Miss· 6'0"· 185 lb· 4.35s 40
"A two-time first-team All-Conference USA receiver who ran 4.35 at the Combine and averaged 18.4 yards per catch as a junior, a true vertical stressor who turns a free release into an explosive play."Pre-draft read
Watkins works outside and from the slot as a pure vertical threat. His primary trait is long speed: he eats cushion off the line, forces safeties to open early and runs away from pursuit angles once he is even with a defender. His routes are built around that threat, with nine, post and over routes and double moves that make corners bail before he breaks.
His secondary trait is run-after-catch acceleration on crossers, screens and jet motion, where a clean catch can become a chunk play. He is a willing but light blocker in the run game, and his catch radius and play strength are average. The signature is gear change: he can build to top speed within a few strides and still have another burst left late in the route.
Play-action, vertical-shot offense that uses motion, bunch and stacked alignments to free him from press and isolate safeties.
Year 1: WR4/5 deep specialist and returner. Ceiling: WR3 field-stretcher who opens the intermediate area for the primary targets.
Timing-based West Coast offense that relies on precise option routes, press releases and contested catches in tight windows.
His value depends on a quarterback and play-caller willing to throw deep regularly.
Southern Miss WR Quez Watkins Highlight Reel - 2019 Season | Stadium
Junior-year reel of the vertical speed and yards-after-catch that led to his 1,178-yard season.
Best WR in C-USA | Official Quez Watkins Career Highlights (2017-2018) | HD
Early-career cut-up from his freshman and sophomore seasons, including his first All-Conference USA year.
Philadelphia Eagles Quez Watkins 79 yard Touchdown
NFL clip of the long-speed touchdown that captured his role as Philadelphia's deep threat.
Watkins was one of the purest speed prospects in the 2020 receiver class, a Group of Five producer with a legitimate vertical profile. Teams were buying a field-stretcher who could clear space for other targets immediately, with the hope that his route tree would expand around that threat.
He grew from a rotational freshman into Southern Miss' focal point, earning first-team All-Conference USA honors in 2018 and again in 2019, when his production turned into a big-play résumé with an 18.4-yard average. He also returned punts, adding a touchdown in 2018. The flags were a slight frame at 185 pounds, a limited route tree built on vertical stems, inconsistent hands in contested situations and questions about how his production would translate from Conference USA competition.
He confirmed the speed at the Combine with a 4.35 forty, among the fastest receivers in Indianapolis. Philadelphia, which had already drafted Jalen Reagor and John Hightower, took him in the sixth round at 200 overall, with Howie Roseman explaining that the staff had debated Hightower versus Watkins and chose to take both.
- 01
Elite long speed
the 4.35 forty shows up on tape, where he eats cushion quickly and forces safeties to respect him on every snap.
- 02
Big-play production
averaged 18.4 yards per catch as a junior, turning vertical routes and busted coverage into explosive plays.
- 03
Run-after-catch burst
accelerates immediately on crossers, screens and jet motion, where one missed tackle turns into a long gain.
- 04
Deep tracking
locates the ball over either shoulder and adjusts his speed to stay on top of defenders as passes drop in late.
- 05
Return value
handled punts at Southern Miss and scored a return touchdown in 2018, adding a secondary path to a roster spot.
- 01
Slight frame
185 pounds at the Combine, with play strength concerns against press and physical corners who reroute him early.
- 02
Limited route tree
much of his production came on vertical stems and schemed looks rather than sharp breaks at the intermediate level.
- 03
Contested catches
average catch radius and play strength mean he loses too many 50-50 balls and tight-window throws in traffic.
- 04
Competition jump
dominated Conference USA defenses, leaving evaluators to project how his separation would hold up against NFL corners.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.35sp50
- Vertical
- 36.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 125inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.28sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.36sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Southern Miss | 13 | 23 | 337 | 2 |
| 2018 | Southern Miss | 11 | 72 | 889 | 9 |
| 2019 | Southern Miss | 12 | 64 | 1178 | 6 |
| Career | — | 36 | 159 | 2404 | 17 |
Sports-Reference (Southern Miss, 2017-2019), bowl games included. Receiving career of 159 catches, 2,404 yards and 17 TD matches the Eagles' draft release. Season totals sum exactly to the career line. The Eagles listed 37 games and 23 starts; Sports-Reference credits 36 games. He also scored a punt-return touchdown in 2018.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Speed-first complementary receiver who delivers big plays in stretches but rarely becomes a full-time focal point.
The upside: sub-4.4 vertical speed that demands safety attention, even without a complete route tree.
Undersized burner whose role narrows to occasional deep shots and depth snaps.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Watkins spent most of his rookie year developing, then broke out in 2021 with 43 catches for 647 yards and a touchdown as a key secondary target in Philadelphia's offense. In 2022 he caught a career-high three touchdowns as the Eagles reached Super Bowl LVII, but his target share shrank behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and his 2023 production faded further. He left Philadelphia after four seasons with 98 catches, 1,249 yards and six touchdowns in 49 games, then spent 2024 in Pittsburgh without appearing in a game, was released by Arizona with an injury settlement in 2025 and returned to the Eagles' practice squad. Philadelphia released him again at the August 2026 cutdown.
In hindsight the evaluation was accurate: the speed was real, and a sixth-round pick produced a genuine contributor for a Super Bowl team. The route-tree and play-strength concerns capped him as a situational deep threat rather than a starter. He never became more than a complementary vertical piece, and he has not played a regular-season game since 2023.