Desmond Watson would make the story of the NFL as the heaviest perspective to take in the draft if he is selected next week in Green Bay.
But the Florida Gators product knows that 464 pounds are not conducive to a long career in the NFL, even at 6 feet 6 inches.
Fox Sports asked Watson what he was doing to lose weight before entering the league, and he knows where to start.
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Florida Watson’s defensive line defensive player does an exercise during the school’s NFL Football day on March 27, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida. (AP photo / John Raoux)
“Stop driving,” replied Watson. “My most important thing is to continue, to go where I need to get. There are shops and a lot of temptations. It helped me a lot. Do not go inside the service station. Pay in the pump. Because inside, they are snacks and all types of things like that. Do not stop. If you are on the highway, stay on the highway.”
Watson turned heads when he entered the campus in Gainesville at 385 pounds in 2021. Four years later, he is about 80 pounds more than the current heaviest player in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens line player Daniel Faalele, who was registered at 380 pounds last season.
Weight loss was something that was raised with the Gators program, but Watson continued to get it from his walk on campus.
The prospect of the NFL Desmond Watson seeks to become the heaviest played players in the history of the League
“It was like my same problem – not a problem – but my same concern throughout the university,” he said. “I become more in -depth, I better count myself the things I have to do to succeed at the next level. It is interesting. I learned a lot about me in this process.”
Watson said the people of his life taught him to treat his eating habits as “another dependence”.
Florida Gators Desmond Watson’s defensive line (21) addresses the quarter-reen of Tulane Green Wave Ty Thompson (7) during the first half at the Raymond James stadium in Tampa, Florida, on December 20, 2024, in the Gasparilla Bowl Gasparilla. (Doug Engle / Gainesville Sun)
And he knows how serious it can become.
“These are not drugs, but it’s addictive, whether it is the game, the drugs, the alcohol. I think it’s my vice. I’m just trying to grasp. Just as the drugs can kill you, it can do the same. I try to change my life.”
Although Watson’s weight can be a source of concern for NFL teams, the potential is certainly there for the defensive platform of the Gators which has placed 225 pounds 36 times. This would have been the highest total of rehearsals at the NFL’s screening combination if Watson had been invited.
Florida Gators’s Florida Watson’s defensive line player walks on the field during Gator Walk at the Orange and Blue Spring Football match at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida, April 13, 2024. (Matt Pendleton / Gainesville Sun)
Instead, he presented his power and other skills to the NFL teams at the Florida Pro Day, which included a 25 -inch vertical jump and a 4.93 -second dashboard of 40 yards.
If he is drafted, Watson should go to the last laps to Green Bay.
