Chad Johnson Urges the Bengals to Draft 464-lbs Desmond Watson to Fix Cincinnati’s Defensive Issues

When SZA and Keke Palmer clamored for “Big Boys” on Saturday Night Live in December 2022, NFL teams could relate. When the league’s front offices scout linemen, they’re on the prowl for the biggest men they can find. Of course, those linemen — whether on the offensive or defensive side — can’t just be massive bodies.

They need to have some skill, power, and agility. Otherwise, they won’t be an asset. Then there is Desmond Watson, labelling whom as an outlier in this respect may be an understatement. You can see for yourself below.

No, that is not a misprint. Well, it wasn’t a misprint back in 2022, anyway. When Watson made the tackle shown in the post, he did weigh only 415 lbs. But at Florida’s 2025 Pro Day, he measured 6-foot-6 and weighed 464 lbs.

Most health professionals wouldn’t recommend living with such tonnage. But to Chad Johnson, Watson is exactly what the doctor should order for the Cincinnati Bengals, stating that his former organization needs to add Watson to their roster.

“We need help on defense. And obviously… we could start right there on that defensive line. Bring him on down there. Clog that thing up,” said Johnson on Nightcap.

Shannon Sharpe joked in reply, saying that “someone in the NFC East” needed to draft Watson so he could stop the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Tush Push”. Johnson said an NFL team would “get some of [that weight] off him.”

Sharpe, however, doesn’t think any franchise could “get him under 400 [pounds,]” but hopes Watson “gets an opportunity.”

Will Watson be picked in the NFL Draft?

The NFL has had plenty of big boys take the gridiron. Two active players — offensive tackle Trent Brown (2015) and guard Daniel Faalele (2022) — each weighed 380 lbs when they were selected in their respective drafts. Another offensive lineman, Aaron Gibson, once played at 410 lbs.

Brown and Faalele are the heaviest players ever to be selected in the NFL Draft. Gibson is the heaviest man to ever play an NFL down. If Watson hears his name during the 2025 NFL Draft and plays a single snap, he’ll be able to put both distinctions on his resume.

Watson’s biggest strength is, well, strength. He pumped out 36 reps on the bench press at Florida’s Pro Day, an amount that would have topped the charts at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.

Beyond that, his other workout numbers won’t compare well to most prospects’. But that doesn’t mean they’re not impressive for someone of his incredible stature.

Watson’s coaches and teammates at Florida speak highly of him. Head coach Billy Napier said Watson is a “unicorn” who’s “extremely intelligent” with “a great sense of humor”. The last aspect became apparent throughout his Gator tenure, particularly when he picked up a first down as a rusher in last season’s Gasparilla Bowl.

Watson, for better or worse, is not an early-round prospect. He made only 63 tackles and posted just 1.5 sacks across his four-year collegiate career. His weight has also moved drastically in the wrong direction after his arrival in Florida as a 385-lb freshman.

As much as Napier believes Watson has “learned a lot about habit-building [and] self-discipline”, that track record isn’t encouraging. However, if an NFL team believes Watson can be effective on run downs — who can “clog things up,” as Johnson put it — then he will latch on somewhere.

If you’re a franchise in need of a defensive tackle, why not take a chance on him late in the draft? You’d certainly get your fanbase’s attention — and gain a highly marketable asset — by doing so.

Is Watson a unicorn in the same fashion as Travis Hunter? Of course not. But like Hunter, he’s someone who truly could be one of a kind in the NFL. We’ll see if he finds a home in the league during the 2025 NFL Draft, which takes place from April 24 to 26 in Green Bay.