Name: Armani Watts
Armani Watts recruit scouting report: Do-it-all 2014 athlete
The North Forney star does it all for his high school team, but will be taking his talents to the defensive side of the ball in college.
High school and hometown: Watts is from North Forney High School in Forney, Texas.
Position: Watts plays a variety of positions for his high school team, including quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, but projects as a safety in college.
Height and weight: Watts is 6’0, 190 pounds.
Ratings: Considered a three-star prospect by 247Sports, Rivals has Watts as a four-star recruit. Scout and ESPN have not yet ranked him.
Offers: Watts has offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Clemson, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA, and Texas A&M. He committed to A&M after being offered at their second Junior Day on March 2, 2013.
Twitter: You can find Watts on Twitter @GGPR_BANGER5.
Highlights: Watts’ highlights are available on Hudl.
Scouting report:
A do-it-all prospect for his high school Watts played a number of positions as a junior, including quarterback, wide receiver, running back, and safety. Like many dynamic prospects of his size, the biggest travesty in his transition to college will be the fact that he will be moving to defense and will no longer have the ball in his hands unless he manages to secure an interception or ends up returning kicks.
For North Forney, Watts displays an uncanny ability to take the ball the distance. Well built at around 190 pounds, he can use his lower-body strength and balance to break arm tackles. While some prospects have east-west elusivness with their lateral agility and jump cuts, Watts is one of the relatively rare recruits with north-south elusiveness, as he uses subtle moves and small changes of directions to split defenders and make big plays, a tactic that allows him to maintain full speed and keep defenders from closing on him.
At safety, Watts can use his explosiveness and strength to detonate ballcarriers and his leaping ability to pull down interceptions. In fact, while Watts doesn’t appear to have elite top-end speed, he looks to have a vertical of well over 30 inches that could help him win jump balls over taller wide receivers in college.
While Watts looks headed for the defensive side of the ball in college and has an all-important attribute in his tackling ability to help him make the transition there full time, there’s no question that he could be an outstanding slot receiver.
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