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NBC Sports
24-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Todd Bowles: Bucs didn't sign Desmond Watson to defend the tush-push
With the tush push here to stay (at least for another year), every team other than the Eagles has two potential objectives: (1) come up with a way to do it; and/or (2) come up with a way to stop it. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles recently explained that one of the team's most prominent post-draft signings — defensive tackle Desmond Watson — wasn't added to counter the Eagles' signature play when the two teams meet in Week 4. 'To judge him right now is very early, and we didn't get him for the tush push -- we got him because we really thought he could play,' Bowles said, via Jenna Laine of 'It's just a matter of getting him to the point where he can play more than two or three plays [per drive].' That's the balance the Bucs are hoping to strike, between keeping him big while also making sure he's not too big to handle the physical demands of taking repeated NFL snaps. 'Right now, we just have to see how long he can stay on the field, and [we] put him on a program where we think he can make some progress,' Bowles said. 'We didn't get him to say, 'Hey, we have to put you on the field right now.' It's, 'Hey, we can try to put you on this program and see what we can come up with and see if we can get our endurance better,' and have him become a better player that way, then kind of see where he is.' Still, Watson has plenty of work to do to parlay his position on the oversized 90-man offseason collection of players into a 53-man roster spot, especially since he arrives without the inherent benefit of the doubt that a draft pick often receives. Watson nevertheless stands out, literally and figuratively, as a player whose unprecedented size can be an asset. 'We just haven't seen someone that size,' Bucs defensive line coach Charlie Strong said. 'He works, and he don't mind working. I know with his size, everybody wants to make a big deal about it. But our players -- even the guys who are around him right now in our room -- they just look at him like, 'He's just like us. He's got to go about his work and do his job.'' Watson was listed at 437 pounds last year at Florida. He weighed in at 464 pounds during the Florida Pro Day workout. He said during the team's rookie minicamp that he had lost 27 pounds to get back to 437. On the Tampa Bay official online roster, Watson is listed at 264 pounds. Assuming someone accidentally transposed numbers (or tried to divide by the actual number by two and miscalculated), the actual reading is either 426. Or 462. We'll stick with 437, for present purposes. Coupled with Vita Vea (who is officially 347 pounds — which perhaps could mean 437 or 473 or even 734), that gives the Bucs 784 pounds that can be positioned at the tip of the tush-push spear. Again, Watson first has to make the 53-man roster. If he does, it will make for an interesting moment when the Bucs host the Eagles, and when the Eagles are in a short-yardage or goal-line situation.
USA Today
13-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Desmond Watson ready to shape his own narrative during tenure with Bucs
Desmond Watson ready to shape his own narrative during tenure with Bucs Desmond Watson is a mountain of a man and an imposing presence on the football field. He played a vital role in the success that the Florida Gators' defense had down the stretch in 2024. They had a tough start to the season, but he was part of the reason they turned it around in the end. He now hopes to carry that momentum into his NFL career,r and so far he has, starting with shedding some of his weight. After weighing 464 pounds at the Florida Pro Day, he is already losing weight. He is doing so because he wants to be more than a number at the end of his career. In an interview with Bucs media, he explained as much and more. "I feel like my name is etched in history, of course, as the official heaviest player in the NFL, or whatnot, it's a good story; at the same time I don't want it to be my narrative. I want to be known as a football player, and a good football player at that. But it's nice to be able to make history…I guess again because I did it in college, too. It's nice to be able to make history but all in all, I am a football player and I want to be known as a good one. So it's just a process that comes with it, I guess." Watson is already receiving praise from coaches early on after a good rookie minicamp, and he now has momentum going into the next set of organized team activities.
