DEMONSTRATING GROWTH The maturation of NDSU receiver Christian Watson to NFL prospect

By Jeff Kolpack The Forum Fargo

The parade of NFL scouts walking through the doors of the North Dakota State football office has been constant this fall. Every team has been there. Some more than once; some even more than twice.

The No. 1 reason is Bison wide receiver Christian Watson, whose appealing combination of being 6-foot-5 and very fast has made for an assessment necessity. In almost every case, scouts have left Fargo with one perplexing question: How did this guy get just one college scholarship offer out of high school?

“He could run since Day 1,” said NDSU head coach Matt Entz. “But just being fast sometimes isn’t enough. We’ve all seen great track guys that play football, but he needed to be a really fast football player and I think he’s been able to do that in his time here.”

He’s done one other important part of being a football player. Watson has grown up. That teenager who arrived on campus in 2017 from H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., and challenged the Bison staff with his immaturity has put that part of his life behind him.

Whether it was running harder during a drill or taking a workout more seriously, Watson learned early in his NDSU career that attitude wasn’t going to make the grade. Instead of running with the pack in wind sprints, he started winning them.

“Just my maturity as a whole in understanding the need of playing at this high of a level,” Watson said. “I’ve just grown as a man, a player on and off the field and that’s helped me understand what it takes to be successful at this level.”

Asked the difference between the freshman Christian Watson and the senior version, Entz started with a chuckle, as if to say the road was long but worth it.

“Where do I start?” he said. “He just needed to get his ducks in a row.”

On the field, that included learning how to run receiving routes — how to get open. He needed to learn the college game, which is much more complicated than high school schemes.

“Everyone has their slips when they’re a young guy,” Watson said.

“Honestly, I’ve grown in all aspects of the game and as a human being and that is so much appreciated.”

The advancement has been so pronounced that Watson lined up in the backfield as a running back last week in the 44-2 win over Indiana State. He gained 21 yards to the

Sycamore 20-yard line on a sweep to the right and TaMerik Williams scored on the next play.

“Gotta be creative on where we can play him,” Entz said. “Hard to double cover him when he’s in the backfield.”

The last time the Bison lined up one of their best athletes who wasn’t a running back in the backfield was linebacker Jabril Cox in the 2019 Division I FCS title game against James Madison. NDSU had a direct snap play called for Cox, with quarterback Trey Lance doing the cadence, but Cox never got an official carry.

Watson is more well versed with the offense. One of the goals is to find a better matchup with Watson on somebody other than a cornerback.

“Just find easy ways to put the ball in one of your most dynamic playmakers hands,” said NDSU offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl. “It doesn’t get any easier than handing off a ball. A kid with that much speed to be able to hand him the ball and let him work the perimeter. The only thing we haven’t handed it to him for is an inside zone or A gap power.”

Watson redshirted and did not play in 2017. He caught nine passes as a redshirt freshman in 2018. There was promise, but nothing that had “NFL prospect” written on it. That changed in 2019. He led the Bison with 34 receptions for 732 yards and six touchdowns. The pinnacle were back-toback scoring plays of 75 and 70 yards against Montana State in the FCS semifinals.

“Seeing him evolve and mature has been really great to see,” Roehl said. “For a kid who was extremely under recruited for the talent that he had. He does things now with a high level of discipline and accountability. Seeing his brother having success probably has a little bit of do with that. This calendar year he has blossomed.”

Tre Watson, Christian’s older brother, is a linebacker with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. He’s played mainly in a backup role this season. Tre started his college career at Illinois before transferring to Maryland, where he led the Big Ten Conference in tackles and interceptions his senior year in 2018.

“I’ve always looked up to my brother, I think he’s the golden child in my family,” Christian said. “He’s paved the way for me, whether it was him going through a negative or positive experience, I’ve been able to learn from him.”

The learning in the last several months has included dealing with the NFL attention. Scouts routinely question Bison receivers coach Noah Pauley on Watson’s background and work habits.

“He handles it really well,” Pauley said. “If he has a question for me, he’ll ask. If there are things we need to do to prepare him, I’ll let him know and we’ve been transparent in this process because we want the best for Christian.”

As to the scouts’ question on NDSU being his only college offer, there is no real answer. NDSU saw speed and developed the player. NFL teams may be seeing the same thing.

“I think it’s just part of life at this point,” Watson said. “When you play at a school of this caliber, you’re going to have that attention. We’ve seen it with a bunch of guys in the past. I wouldn’t want to say it’s something you get used to because it doesn’t happen for everyone, but it’s a blessing. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to do me and do what’s best for the team that week.”