Sammy Watkins

Samuel Benjamin Watkins (born June 14, 1993) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent.

He played college football for the Clemson Tigers, twice earning first-team All-American honors.

Watkins committed to Clemson University in November 2010.

Recruited by dozens of schools, he chose Clemson over offers from Florida, Florida State, Miami (FL), Michigan, and Tennessee.

He played in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

In addition to football, Watkins ran track & field for the Wolfpack, where he was one of the state's top performers in the sprinting events.

As a junior, he finished fifth in the 100 meters and sixth in the 200 meters at the state meet.

As a senior, he captured the AA state title in the 200 meters, with a PR of 21.11 seconds.

He also won the 100 meters at the 2011 Tarpon Invitational, recording a personal-best time of 10.45 seconds.

Watkins was a highly touted recruit before the 2011 college football season.

Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated the third-best wide receiver prospect in the nation, behind only George Farmer and Trey Metoyer.

He was ranked fifth best by Scout.com.

Even though he didn't take part in spring practice, Watkins made an immediate impact for Clemson in his freshman season in 2011.

He caught 82 passes for 1,219 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first collegiate season, including 10 catches, 155 yards and two touchdowns against the defending national champion Auburn Tigers.

He led the nation in reception yards per game, all-purpose yards and touchdowns.

He also broke 11 school freshman records seven games into the season, including total all-purpose yards previously held by C. J. Spiller.

Watkins was an Associated Press first-team All-American, becoming only the fourth ever true freshman to do so, joining Herschel Walker, Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson.

He was also named a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

As a sophomore in 2012, he had 57 receptions for 708 yards and three touchdowns.

As a junior, he had 101 receptions for 1,464 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Watkins was selected by the Buffalo Bills fourth overall in the 2014 NFL draft.

He has also played for the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Green Bay Packers.

Watkins became a Super Bowl champion as a member of the Chiefs.

Watkins attended South Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida, where he was a letterman in football, basketball and track & field.

He became the all-time leading receiver in the history of Lee County with 133 catches for 2,997 yards and 36 touchdowns during his career.

As a sophomore, he had 33 receptions for 537 yards and 10 touchdowns.

In his junior and senior years, he was a first-team all-state selection.

In his junior year, he added 46 catches for 1,192 yards and 14 touchdowns.

As a senior, Watkins had eight 100-yard receiving games on the season, accumulating totals of 54 catches for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns.

He led an undefeated South Fort Myers team into the 3A state semi-finals, where they lost 44–28 to a Duke Johnson-led Miami Norland team.

He was the MVP of the 2014 Orange Bowl after setting an Orange Bowl record with 16 receptions for 227 yards against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

He also set the school record for career receptions in the game finishing with 240.

In January 2014, Watkins announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL draft.

Watkins was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round as the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

Cleveland traded this selection to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's 2014 first round selection (the 9th pick, later traded by Cleveland to Minnesota, who used it to select UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr), and their first and fourth round selections in 2015 (19th Cameron Erving C & 115th Ibraheim Campbell S) He was the first wide receiver selected by the Bills in the first round since Lee Evans in 2004, and the earliest wide receiver selected in the draft since A. J. Green in 2011.

On May 28, 2014, Watkins signed his rookie contract, a fully guaranteed four-year deal worth $19.94 million, with a $12.8 million signing bonus.

He caught his first career touchdown reception from EJ Manuel in a Week 2 29–10 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

In Week 7 against the Minnesota Vikings, Watkins caught nine passes for 122 yards for two touchdowns.

His second touchdown was the game winner coming with one second remaining in the game.

Watkins finished his season setting a new Bills rookie record in both receptions (65) and receiving yards (982).