Syracuse Football: ‘Cuse into fray for 5-star WR previously pledged to Deion Sanders

Syracuse football coaches have doled out numerous scholarship offers to 2025 high school prospects of late, and some of those offers have gone to elite five-star players.

Case in point, the Orange coaching staff has offered 2025 five-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. from Florida, he said via his X page on December 26.

Listed on the 247Sports Web site at 5-foot-10 and 172 pounds, Watkins holds more than 20 scholarship offers from top-flight programs, so the competition for the ‘Cuse to prevail here is intense.

That being said, I credit head coach Fran Brown and his staff for making a run at highly ranked prospects, whether in the 2025 class or other recruiting cycles.

Syracuse football has gotten into the mix for five-star junior WR Winston Watkins Jr.

In mid-November, according to media reports, Watkins de-committed from Colorado and reopened his recruitment back up. He had verbally committed to the Buffaloes on December 4 of 2022, the same day that Deion Sanders was hired as the Colorado head coach.

Watkins attends the First Baptist Academy in Naples, Fla. As a junior in the 2023 season, per the MaxPreps Web site, he collected 1,907 all-purpose yards, or 238.4 all-purpose yards per game.

As a wide receiver, Watkins hauled in 61 passes for 1,170 yards, or 146.3 receiving yards per game, while scoring 13 touchdowns through the air. Watkins also rushed for two touchdowns on the ground.

Besides the Orange and Colorado, Watkins’s offer sheet includes college squads such as Texas A&M, Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, among others.

In 2025 national rankings, Rivals.com is currently the most bullish on him, rating Watkins as five stars, No. 13 nationally, No. 2 at wide receiver and No. 2 in Florida.

When I wrote this article, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Watkins as four stars, No. 102 overall, No. 12 at wide receiver and No. 16 in Florida.

Over at the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, he checked in as four stars, No. 90 nationwide, No. 10 at wide receiver and No. 14 in Florida.

Watkins has a mighty impressive list of suitors, and I assume some Syracuse football fans think the Orange is a long shot to win out in his recruiting process.

Still, ‘Cuse coaches, led by Brown, are aiming high with their 2025 recruiting efforts, and I find that exciting.

It’s worth noting that the Syracuse football staff possesses three of the top recruiters around the country in Brown, new defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson and defensive ends coach Nick Williams.

Brown, most recently, was the defensive backs coach at Georgia. Robinson is currently the interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M, while Williams was formerly the defensive line coach at Colorado.

Those three schools have all offered scholarships to Watkins.