Jamar “Boogie” Watson indicators free agent contract with Pittsburgh Steelers

Soccer
05/01/2021 10:23 p.m.

Susan Lax

Big play performers had 28.5 career tackles for loss and 18.5 career sacks

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Kentucky’s youngest football graduate, linebacker Jamar “Boogie” Watson, has signed a free-agent contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He is the second Wildcat from the 2020 class to sign a free agent contract and join AJ Rose (Vikings).

Watson of Brandywine, Maryland finished his Wildcat career in 49 career games with 29 starts, 19 of them in a row. As a big play performer, he scored a total of 107 tackles, 28.5 tackles against loss, 18.5 sacks, 14 quarterback rushes, five forced fumble, four pass separations, one interception, and one fumble recovery. His 18.5 career bags occupy fifth place in school history.

Watson, who was voted one of 10 team captains in 2020, was part of a senior class that won 37 games (most in five seasons since 1949/53) and 20 SEC games, most in five years School history, and who went to five straight bowl games to set the school record. They also beat six high-ranking opponents, ended their 31-game losing streak against Florida, and won for the first time since 1984 in Tennessee.

The 6-foot-2,241-pound flank player ended his senior season with a season high of 40 tackles, five sacks and had an interception against the state of Mississippi in which he ran the ball out of the receiver’s hands just before he crossed tore the goal line for a score. He received Phil Steele’s second team All-SEC team.

Watson graduated with a degree in sociology and a minor in criminology in May 2020. He was a member of the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll and the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll (2016-17) as a student-athlete.

Kentucky / NFL Draft Notes:

• Kentucky’s six NFL draft picks are the fourth highest in school history and the most since 1979 (eight). Five of the six picks were defensive players.
• The six picks are the most for Kentucky since the current seven-round draft era began in 1994.
• This is the second time in three years Kentucky has had five or more draft picks (five in 2019).
• For the second time in the past three years, Kentucky had a first and second round election in Jamin Davis (first round) and Kelvin Joseph (second round). Before that, you have to go back 42 years to find two British picks in the first two rounds (Warren Bryant and Randy Burke, first round 1977).