'Elite mindset' has allowed Winston Watkins to make mark in talented Ole Miss WR room
Ole Miss true freshman wide receiver Winston Watkins reminds head coach Lane Kiffin an awful lot of another receiver he had early in his Rebels tenure.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Watkins was a mid-year enrollee last spring and was a consensus four-star recruit out of Venice High School in Fort Myers, Florida. He was a key member of a Rebels signing class that ranked 16th nationally in 247Sports’ Composite rankings. Ole Miss’ highest-profile signee was five-star receiver Caleb Cunningham ; Watkins was one of three receivers the Rebels signed who was ranked at least a four-star in 247Sports’ Composite. Add in a highly touted group of transfer portal receivers – seniors Harrison Wallace III and De’Zhaun Stribling, junior Traylon Ray and sophomore Deuce Alexander were all four-star transfers in 247Sports’ rankings – and the return of junior receiver Cayden Lee and senior tight end Dae’Quan Wright figured to make a crowded receiver room with little room for youngsters.
But Watkins – much like former star Elijah Moore did as a freshman in a receiver room featuring AJ Brown and DK Metcalf – has nonetheless carved out a role on the No. 7 Rebels (7-1, 4-1 SEC) with 13 catches for 218 yards. He set career bests with four catches for 111 yards in a key 34-26 win at Oklahoma last weekend and was named the SEC Freshman of the Week.
No. 7 Ole Miss hosts South Carolina (3-5, 1-5) Saturday at 6 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
“Preparation. (Watkins is) just elite mindset. Very similar to Elijah Moore that we had here. Such a pro,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know why we do this, you ask me about him and then say all these great things and his (NIL) price is just going to go up. So, not really smart by me.”
Moore, a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was an All-American for Ole Miss in Kiffin’s first season as the Rebels’ head coach. The 5-10, 178-pound Moore caught 86 passes for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns in just eight games in 2020, and his 149.1 receiving yards per game led the FBS. Moore played extensively as a true freshman, catching 36 passes for 398 yards in 2018.
Watkins was Ole Miss’ top-graded offensive player against the Sooners with a career-best 83.1 Pro Football Focus rating. He lined up in the slot on 19 of his 21 pass-play snaps and had an average target depth of 17 yards. He also averaged a team-best 10.8 yards after catch per reception, per PFF.
“I really enjoy being around (Watkins), and he deserves to get the playing time that he has,” Kiffin said. “He and Cayden (Lee) really, you look at that position, they played a phenomenal game between the two of them and (had) very big-time plays.”
