Syracuse Football: 5-star wide receiver, a top-15 national prospect, sets 'Cuse visit

Elite 2025 five-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. from Florida, who was offered by Syracuse football late last year, has mapped out a busy spring of visits to various schools, including the Orange.

According to posts on X from both 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong and Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney, the 5-foot-10, 172-pound Watkins will take an unofficial visit to the ‘Cuse on March 27, which is awesome news.

Watkins, ranked in the top 15 nationally by Rivals.com, has accumulated nearly 30 scholarship offers from a range of high-major programs, so the Orange will face intense competition to prevail in his recruitment.

To that end, Gorney and Wiltfong both said that Watkins’s upcoming visit schedule also includes trips to Florida, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Ohio State, Florida State, Texas, Oregon and Tennessee.

Five-star WR Winston Watkins Jr. will visit Syracuse football in late March.

According to recruiting services, Watkins had previously given verbal commits to first Texas A&M and then Colorado, but these days, his recruitment is open.

On December 26, 2023, he said via his X page that he had picked up a scholarship offer from the new Orange coaching staff, led by head coach and ace recruiter Fran Brown.

Watkins is a standout at the First Baptist Academy in Naples, Fla. Per the MaxPreps Web site, as a junior during the 2023 season, he tallied 1,907 all-purpose yards.

As a wide receiver, Watkins caught 61 passes for 1,170 yards and 13 touchdowns through the air. He also rushed for two touchdowns on the ground.

In a couple of recent articles, Gorney has noted that Syracuse football coaches have gotten heavily involved with Watkins, who the Rivals.com national analyst described as “supremely talented and electric with the ball in his hands.”

On Monday, Gorney wrote about Watkins, “This season at Naples (Fla.) First Baptist Academy, the five-star receiver had around 2,000 all-purpose yards so whether it’s getting him the ball in the short game, having him run deep routes or finding other inventive ways to get him involved in the offense, Watkins is going to make things happen.”

Currently, Rivals.com is the most bullish on him, placing Watkins at No. 14 nationwide, No. 2 at wide receiver and No. 2 in Florida within the 2025 class.

When I wrote this article on Monday, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite had Watkins at No. 126 overall, No. 17 at wide receiver and No. 18 in Florida.

Over at the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, he checked in at No. 135 around the country, No. 17 at wide receiver and No. 17 in Florida.