Sammy Watkins in the NFL
In the NFL. Photo: Mr.schultz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Receiver, Clemson, 2011–⁠13

Sammy Watkins

Number
No. 2
Height
6′1″
Hometown
Fort Myers, FL
Born
Jun 14, 1993, in Fort Myers, Florida

Wikipedia readers: about 6,283 a month over the past year

Sammy Watkins played receiver at Clemson (2011–⁠13). The Buffalo Bills took Watkins in the first round, No. 4 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.

At a glance

Best season
1,464
Receiving yards, 2013 (Clemson, 11–⁠2)
Best game
227 yards
Vs. Ohio State, bowl season 2013: No. 1 receiving game in FBS that week
Drafted
No. 4
Overall, 2014 NFL Draft (Buffalo Bills)

Career highs

16catches, career highvs. Ohio State, 2013227receiving yards, career highvs. Ohio State, 20132receiving touchdowns, career highsix times; last vs. Ohio State, 2013

Honors

Team titles: ACC champions, 2011

All-America: AP first team 2011; AFCA 2013; Scout.com first team 2011; Pro Football Weekly 2011 and 2012; Sports Illustrated 2011; Yahoo! Sports 2011

Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.

Receiving

Receiving yards, season by season, with his team’s record
SeasonTeamRecYdsAvgTDLong
2011Clemson821,21914.91265
2012Clemson5770812.4361
2013Clemson1011,46414.51296
Career2403,39114.12796

Returns

SeasonTeamKRYdsTDPRYdsTD
2011Clemson3382615120
2012Clemson1325703110
2013Clemson142930100
Career601,37619230

Rushing

SeasonTeamCarYdsAvgTDLong
2011Clemson322317.2033
2012Clemson14976.9158
2013Clemson6111.803
Career523396.5158

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

SeasonTeamNo.PosHt
2011Clemson2WR
2012Clemson2WR
2013Clemson2WR6′1″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Per play

SeasonTeamPlaysEPA/playPctileMedianTotalUsage
2013Clemson980.6935th (n=341)0.8168.010%

Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.

Game by game

2013 Clemson 13 games, 101 catches, 1,464 yards, 12 TD
DateOpponentResultRecRec ydsRec TDKRYdsPR
Aug 31vs.GeorgiaW 38–⁠35612711241
Sep 7vs.South Carolina StateW 52–⁠133190–––
Sep 19atNC StateW 26–⁠1410960–––
Sep 28vs.Wake ForestW 56–⁠761131–––
Oct 5atSyracuseW 49–⁠1441261–––
Oct 12vs.Boston CollegeW 24–⁠1471011–––
Oct 19vs.Florida StateL 14–⁠518681356–
Oct 26atMarylandW 40–⁠27141630346–
Nov 2atVirginiaW 59–⁠1081692–––
Nov 14vs.Georgia TechW 55–⁠3151042250–
Nov 23vs.The CitadelW 52–⁠67581–––
Nov 30atSouth CarolinaL 17–⁠317930379–
Jan 3 ✦vs.Ohio StateW 40–⁠35162272238–
2012 Clemson 10 games, 57 catches, 708 yards, 3 TD
DateOpponentResultRecRec ydsRec TDKRYdsPR
Sep 15vs.FurmanW 41–⁠7452019–
Sep 22atFlorida StateL 37–⁠496240348–
Oct 6vs.Georgia TechW 47–⁠316420471–
Oct 20vs.Virginia TechW 38–⁠1788401292
Oct 25atWake ForestW 42–⁠1382021–––
Nov 3atDukeW 56–⁠206971242–
Nov 10vs.MarylandW 45–⁠104600139–
Nov 17vs.NC StateW 62–⁠481111011191
Nov 24vs.South CarolinaL 17–⁠274370–––
Dec 31 ✦vs.LSUW 25–⁠24––––––
2011 Clemson 13 games, 82 catches, 1,219 yards, 12 TD
DateOpponentResultRecRec ydsRec TDKRYdsPR
Sep 3vs.TroyW 43–⁠197811––1
Sep 10vs.WoffordW 35–⁠27456151102
Sep 17vs.AuburnW 38–⁠24101552–––
Sep 24vs.Florida StateW 35–⁠3071412121–
Oct 1atVirginia TechW 23–⁠33380–––
Oct 8vs.Boston CollegeW 36–⁠1471520––1
Oct 15atMarylandW 56–⁠458105252071
Oct 22vs.North CarolinaW 59–⁠388911496–
Oct 29atGeorgia TechL 17–⁠31915316124–
Nov 12vs.Wake ForestW 31–⁠2856204103–
Nov 26atSouth CarolinaL 13–⁠344390–––
Dec 3vs.Virginia TechW 38–⁠105801122–
Jan 4 ✦vs.West VirginiaL 33–⁠7056617143–

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

DrillCombine 2014
Height6′0¾″
Weight211 lb
Arm length32″
Hand size9⅝″
Wingspan76½″W
40-yard dash4.43 s
10-yard split1.55 sW
Vertical jump34″
Broad jump10′6″
Bench press16 reps
3-cone drill6.95 s
20-yard shuttle4.34 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

9 seasons, 105 games with a stat; latest team: Baltimore Ravens.

SeasonTeamGRecYdsTD
2014Buffalo Bills16659826
2015Buffalo Bills13601,0479
2016Buffalo Bills8284302
2017Los Angeles Rams15395938
2018Kansas City Chiefs10405193
2019Kansas City Chiefs13526733
2020Kansas City Chiefs10374212
2021Baltimore Ravens11273941
2022Baltimore Ravens9163250
NFL career1053645,38434

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.

Is this you, or do you know of something wrong or missing here? Suggest a correction. We check each one against a source before changing the page.