Eric Watts
American football player (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eric Watts (born October 1, 2000) is an American professional football defensive end for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UConn Huskies.
_(cropped)_Eric_Watts.jpg)
Sumter, South Carolina, U.S.
Watts with UConn in 2022 | |||||
| No. 95 – New York Jets | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | October 1, 2000 Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||
| Listed weight | 277 lb (126 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Sumter | ||||
| College | UConn (2019–2023) | ||||
| NFL draft | 2024: undrafted | ||||
| Career history | |||||
| |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||
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Early life
From Sumter, South Carolina, Watts attended Sumter High School where he played football and basketball, being selected to the Offense–Defense All-American Bowl in football while helping the team win county and region championships.[1] As a senior, he had 8 1/2 sacks while helping Sumter win ten straight games.[2] He committed to play college football for the UConn Huskies.[3]
College career
Watts began seeing extended action at UConn as a true freshman in 2019.[4] He appeared in all 12 games that year and totaled 30 tackles.[5] The team's 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, Watts played 10 games while accumulating 39 tackles.[6] He appeared in 13 games in the 2022 season and posted 49 tackles while leading the team in both tackles-for-loss (10) and sacks (7.0), additionally blocking two kicks and having two forced fumbles.[1] He had 34 tackles and two sacks as a senior in 2023 and was invited to participate at the 2024 Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine.[7][8]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5+5⁄8 in (1.97 m) | 274 lb (124 kg) | 35+3⁄4 in (0.91 m) | 9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | 7 ft 0+3⁄8 in (2.14 m) | 4.67 s | 1.65 s | 2.73 s | 4.38 s | 7.48 s | 36.5 in (0.93 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | 21 reps |
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[9][10] | ||||||||||||
Watts signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2024.[11] He was also selected by the Memphis Showboats in the fifth round of the 2024 UFL draft on July 17.[12] Watts made the Jets' initial 53 man roster out of training camp as a UDFA.
On August 26, 2025, Watts was waived by the Jets as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[13][14] On December 10, he was signed to the active roster.[15]