Maraad Watson
| No. 98 – Texas Longhorns | |
|---|---|
| Position | Defensive tackle |
| Class | Sophomore |
| Personal information | |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 327 lb (148 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Irvington (Irvington, New Jersey) |
| College | |
| Stats at ESPN | |
Maraad Watson is an American college football defensive tackle for the Texas Longhorns. He previously played for the Syracuse Orange.
Early life
Watson attended Irvington High School in Irvington, New Jersey. As a senior, he totaled 72 tackles and 15 sacks in seven games.[1] Coming out of high school, Watson was rated as a three-star recruit, the 24th player in New Jersey and the 136th defensive tackle in the class of 2024 according to 247Sports.[1] He received offers from schools such as Rutgers, Syracuse, Kent State, Nebraska, and Tennessee.[2] Watson initially committed to play college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes before flipping to pick the Syracuse Orange.[1]
College career
Syracuse
In week 14 of the 2024 season, Watson notched six tackles in an upset win over Miami.[3] During the 2024 season, he appeared in 13 games with 11 starts, where he recorded 31 tackles with one and a half being for a loss, a sack, and a pass deflection.[4] For his performance he was named a freshman All-American by 247Sports. After the season, Watson entered the NCAA transfer portal.[5]
Texas
After the 2024-25 season, Watson transferred to play for the Texas Longhorns.[6] In Week 2 against San Jose State, Watson recorded 1.5 sacks.[7]
College statistics
| Season | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF | ||
| Syracuse Orange | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas Longhorns | ||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 11 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 24 | 17 | 35 | 52 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
References
- ^ a b c Leiker, Emily. "Syracuse lands new 2024 signee in New Jersey D-lineman Maraad Watson". Syracuse.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ McAlister, Mike. "Maraad Watson Flips From Kent State, Commits to and Signs With Syracuse Over Tennessee". Syracuse Orange on SI. SI.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Galatzan, Matt. "Freshman All-American Transfer Commits to Texas Longhorns". Texas Longhorns on SI. SI.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Mink, Nate. "Syracuse transfer linked to 4 of football's big spenders". Syracuse.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Edmonds, Javon. "Syracuse loses Freshman All-American to transfer portal". Syracuse.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Edmonds, Javon. "Fran Brown is happy about Maraad Watson's Texas-sized payday". Syracuse.com. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ "Maraad Watson College Gamelog". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 23, 2025.