{"id":3630,"date":"2025-04-27T07:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T07:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/3630\/"},"modified":"2025-04-27T07:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T07:20:11","slug":"meet-desmond-watson-who-is-the-heaviest-player-in-nfl-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/3630\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Desmond Watson \u2014 who is the heaviest player in NFL history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Desmond Watson broke a record the second he reached the NFL: he became the heaviest player in league history.<\/p>\n

Watson weighed in at an astounding 464 pounds at Florida\u2019s pro day about a month before the 2025 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-6 behemoth spent four seasons with the Gators and recorded 63 total tackles, four tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.<\/p>\n

Watson was signed as an UDFA by the Buccaneers<\/p>\n

\u201cBig Dez\u201d<\/a> had hopes of being a Day 3 pick in the draft after not being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t quite fulfill those draft hopes, but he still found a home after the draft as he signed with Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

Florida defensive lineman Desmond Watson performs a drill during the school\u2019s NFL football pro day, Thursday, March 27, 2025. AP<\/p>\n

He weighs nearly 100 pounds more than many of the NFL\u2019s other heaviest players<\/p>\n

Offensive tackles Trent Brown and Daniel Faalele were both drafted in the past at listed weights of 380 pounds \u2014 84 pounds less than what Watson clocked in at.<\/p>\n

Faalele was this past season\u2019s heaviest player<\/a>, weighing in at 384 pounds.<\/p>\n

Before Watson, the heaviest player in NFL history was former offensive tackle 410-pound Aaron Gibson.<\/p>\n

Watson struggled with weight gain in college<\/p>\n

He arrived in Gainesville at 385 pounds in 2021<\/a>. He then weighed 415 pounds as a sophomore and went up to 435 as a junior. In his senior year, he was listed as 449 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been like my same problem \u2014 not problem, but my same concern throughout college,\u201d Watson said in April before the draft.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida defensive lineman Desmond Watson runs through a drill during the school\u2019s NFL football pro day. AP<\/p>\n

Florida Gators defensive lineman Desmond Watson (21) tackles Tulane Green Wave quarterback Ty Thompson (7) during the first half at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL on Friday, December 20, 2024. Doug Engle \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely hard,\u201d said about his diet and food cravings. \u201cPeople have taught me to look at it like another addiction. It\u2019s not drugs, but it\u2019s addicting, whether that\u2019s gaming, drugs, alcohol. I think this is my vice. I\u2019m just trying to get a hold of it. Just like drugs can kill you, this can do the same thing. I\u2019m trying to change my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He impressed scouts at his pro day<\/p>\n

Despite no combine invite, Watson made a name for himself pre-draft with his performance at the Gators\u2019 pro day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Desmond Watson impressed during Florida\u2019s pro day ahead of the NFL Draft in April. AP<\/p>\n

He bench pressed 225 pounds for a stunning 36 reps, which would have been the best mark at this year\u2019s NFL combine. Watson also completed the 40-yard dash in 5.93 seconds and recorded 25 inches on his vertical jump.<\/p>\n

He went viral at Florida after rushing for a first down\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Watson plays as a gap-stuffing interior defensive lineman, he received occasional snaps on the offensive side of the ball as a fullback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In what wound up being his final collegiate game, Watson took a handoff for one yard and converted a first down<\/a> for the Gators in their Bowl Game victory over Tulane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Desmond Watson broke a record the second he reached the NFL: he became the heaviest player in league…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1301,7,6,15,16,9,250],"class_list":{"0":"post-3630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-florida-gators","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft","12":"tag-nfl-draft-2025","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114408719971760814","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}