THE WATKINS REPORT
NAME: Jaylen Watkins
SCHOOL: Cape Coral
CITY: Cape Coral
POSITION: DB/WR/QB
HEIGHT: 6-0.5
WEIGHT: 170
40 TIME: 4.52 (Reported)
HEAD COACH: Mike Goebbel
SCOUTING WATKINS: While he plays so many positions well, you have to understand that with his hips, athletic ability, quickness and knowledge of the game, cover-corner is his calling card to the next level. Watching him play twice during game action, he rarely gets beat, and when he does, his recovery is impressive. He has speed, leaping ability and always puts himself in the best position to make a play.
One of the other thing that has to impress, for a young player like this, is his ability to tackle. If you watch him play the run, you have to be bowled over with the way he makes those initial hits stand up.
He reminds many of a Brandon McGee of Plantation in the fact he is someone who can effectively play on both sides of the ball while colleges are impressed with what they do defensively as cornerbacks. They both have speed and leaping ability.
As a receiver, he plays much bigger than he is. His body control continues to improve, and by the time he gets into his senior year, his strength will catch up and give him the chance to be the complete athlete. Because of his play on defense, his knack of knowing what patterns will work against the better defenders is evident when you watch him compete.
In addition, we also had the pleasure of seeing him compete in the 7-on-7 arena where he showed more athleticism as a quarterback and a receiver, this is certainly a football player who will be heard from plenty in the next few months.
WATKINS WATCH: This impressive football talent averaged over 25 yards per catch on 28 receptions as a sophomore. Against Hardee and Lehigh, he caught five balls for over 80 yards in each outing. On defense, this talented young man had 37 tackles and a team-leading 7 interceptions. In a playoff game loss to Largo, he picked off two passes.
During track season, he is also one of the top runners for Cape Coral. His abilities in track and field began as a youngster growing up.
WHAT THE COLLEGE RECRUITERS ARE SAYING: "Just watched Jaylen play for a few moments and you can see why colleges can't wait for him to complete high school. He is a big time prospect who I see at a corner at the next level."
HIS BAGS ARE PACKED: Take your pick. Every college from USF to UCF, Florida, Miami and FSU know exactly what he means to a program on both sides of the ball as well as special teams.
