Syracuse football keeps pursuing 4-star WR Winston Watkins, top-50 national prospect

Syracuse football coaches remain in pursuit of 2025 four-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. from Florida, according to a recruiting analyst.

The 5-foot-10, 172-pound Watkins, who was recently selected to the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl that will take place on January 11 of next year in San Antonio, received a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff in late December of last year. He had previously given verbal commitments to Texas A&M and then Colorado.

A top-50 national prospect and a top-10 wide receiver in the senior cycle per Rivals.com, Watkins did take an unofficial visit to the Hill in late March of this year. More recently, from late May to late June, he went on official visits to Indiana, Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Based on various media reports I've come across, it appears those three schools are heavily involved with Watkins. Brian Dohn, a top national analyst with 247Sports, recently published an article on Watkins, but it's a subscriber-exclusive piece, and I want to respect Brian's work.

However, top 247Sports analyst Mike McAllister noted in a post on X that the Syracuse football staff "continues to recruit" Watkins, who is a standout senior at Venice High School in Venice, Fla. I'll be curious to see if the Orange can get Watkins to Central New York at some point for an official visit.

Syracuse football remains involved with 2025 four-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr.

When I wrote this article on Friday afternoon, Venice to date in the 2024 season was 7-1 overall and ranked No. 18 around the country, according to MaxPreps. Through those eight games, per MaxPreps, Watkins had hauled in 49 catches for 540 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had 365 kickoff return yards, 10 punt return yards, 65 rushing yards and five scores on the ground.

To date, Watkins has secured more than 30 scholarship offers throughout his recruiting process, per 247Sports. Currently, Ole Miss has a bit of analyst buzz in Watkins' recruitment on Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

Watkins, who has also been selected to play in the 2025 Polynesian Bowl on January 17 of next year in Honolulu, is in the 250 nationally and in the top 30 at wide receiver, within his class, according to both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking.

On July 4 of this year, Watkins unveiled a top 16 of Syracuse football, Michigan, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Indiana, Texas, Ohio State, Colorado, Penn State, South Carolina and Ole Miss.

Andrew Ivins, the director of scouting for 247Sports, wrote an evaluation on Watkins this past September 6. Ivins said in part that Watkins is a "twitched-up slot receiver that has a chance to be an electric playmaker on Saturdays with his burst and short-area quickness. ... Thrives in catch-and-run situations as he can turn a slant or swing into a chunk play with his lateral agility and creativity as a ball carrier."

The Orange has landed at least 30 verbal commitments so far in its 2025 cycle that hovers around the top 35 overall. The 'Cuse staff, led by first-year head coach Fran Brown, has made the Sunshine State a recruiting focus in recent months, along with the traditional Northeast corridor and other states such as Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee, among others.

In late September, 2025 four-star athlete/defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. of Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla., flipped his verbal pledge back to Syracuse football from Southeastern Conference member Florida.

As I noted in another recent column, 2025 five-star edge Javion Hilson of Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Fla., who de-committed from fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Florida State in early September, plans to officially visit the Orange on November 2, when the 'Cuse will host ACC squad Virginia Tech. Hilson is eyeing a commitment announcement on December 4.