Blake Watson

Senior running back for Memphis. 2023: 1,152 rushing yards, 14 rushing TD, 53 catches.

RB · Memphis · Sr. · #4

5′9″ · 195 lb · Queens, NY

CFB Index 82 · #19 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamMemphis 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

2★

WR recruit

No. 3495 nationally · Signed with Old Dominion

Statement game18 car · 256 yds · 3 TDat Coastal Carolina (FBS) · W 49-21

Top 0.1% rushing yards game since 2021.

Worst rushing offense in the SBC and we’re making Watson look like Walter Payton 🤦🏻‍♂️r/CFB game thread · ▲ 2His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Memphis. 2023: 1,152 rushing yards, 14 rushing TD, 53 catches.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Old Dominion in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Memphis, 3,277 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 100 yds at North Texas.North Texas · W 45-422023

2018

Signed with Old Dominion2-star out of Green Hope

202110 games

The role got bigger.

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

202313 games

All-AACfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3495 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2023

2 coaches

2018–2019

Mike Norvell

Memphis

2021–2023

Ryan Silverfield

Memphis

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Norvell → Ryan Silverfield. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Old Dominion4-8HC: Bobby Wilder · Balanced

2019Old Dominion1-11HC: Bobby Wilder · Balanced

2021Old Dominion6-7HC: Ricky Rahne · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Old Dominion3-9HC: Ricky Rahne · Pass-leaning, slow tempo

2023Memphis10-3HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

82All-Conference level #19 of 310?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (81st percentile). Strength: rec yards (100th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#80 / 426 · 81st pct

7.5%

Yards / carry#170 / 426 · 60th pct

5.5

Success rate#203 / 426 · 52nd pct

44.8%

Explosive rate#211 / 426 · 50th pct

6.9%

EPA / carry#236 / 426 · 45th pct

0.14

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#2 / 327 · 100th pct

485

Receptions#2 / 327 · 100th pct

Rush TDs#15 / 333 · 95th pct

Rush yards#28 / 333 · 92nd pct

1152

Carries#33 / 333 · 90th pct

192

Long run#39 / 333 · 88th pct

Yards / carry#46 / 333 · 85th pct

6.0

Fumbles lost#67 / 207 · 47th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

46th → 45th percentile

Success rate

17th → 52nd percentile

Explosive rate

66th → 50th percentile

Yards / carry

72nd → 60th percentile

TD rate

31st → 81st percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

189 carries

20%

Stuffed (≤0)

38%

Grind (1–3)

26%

Chunk (4–9)

16%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	79.2	7.2	1.3
Road7g	96.7	5.5	0.9

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	82.1	6.5	0.9
Weeks 8+6g	96.2	6.1	1.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Charles Huff

Pass share

38.2%

66 pass / 107 run

Plays / game

57.7

3 games

Team sack rate

5.2%

77 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

82 · #19 of 310 RBs

Two-star recruit. Now #19 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Memphis	192	1,152	6.0	14	--
2022	Old Dominion	157	897	5.7	5	--
2021	Old Dominion	215	1,112	5.2	8	--
2019	Old Dominion	25	116	4.6	1	--
2018	Old Dominion	--	--	--	--	--
Career		589	3,277	5.6	28	--

Season	Team
2023	Memphis	53	485	9.2	3	--
2022	Old Dominion	37	314	8.5	2	--
2021	Old Dominion	10	55	5.5	1	--
2019	Old Dominion	13	79	6.1	0	--
2018	Old Dominion	--	--	--	--	--
Career		113	933	8.3	6	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2023

W 36–26

at Iowa State

107 rush yds (15 car)

With S. Henigan — 364 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 95.4 · 27 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD · S. Smith — 22 rush yds (4 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 9 · North Texas · 3&1 · Q1 · EPA +6.03Blake Watson run for 65 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 9 · North Texas · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +5.93Seth Henigan pass complete to Blake Watson for 63 yds to the UNT 1 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Charlotte · 1&2 · Q3 · EPA -5.79Blake Watson run for a loss of 7 yards to the CLT 9 Blake Watson fumbled, recovered by CLT Marcus Robitaille, forced by BALFOUR, returned 0 yards to the CLT9, (Play was confirmed after review).
Week 9 · North Texas · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +5.15Blake Watson run for 64 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 3 · Navy · 2&5 · Q4 · EPA +5.05Blake Watson run for 69 yds to the NAVY 1 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Navy · 2&18 · Q3 · EPA +3.57Seth Henigan pass complete to Blake Watson for 23 yds to the NAVY 38 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Boise State · 4&1 · Q1 · EPA -3.13Blake Watson run for a loss of 2 yards to the BOIS 30
Week 1 · Bethune-Cookman · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA +3.13Blake Watson run for 15 yds for a TD (Seth Morgan KICK)
Week 10 · South Florida · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.94Blake Watson run for 34 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 4 · Missouri · 3&3 · Q3 · EPA +2.77Blake Watson 13 Yd pass from Seth Henigan (Tanner Gillis Kick)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 56-14vs Bethune-Cookman	10	75	7.5	3	21	3 rushing TDs
Wk 2	W 37-3@ Arkansas State	20	51	2.6	0	13
Wk 3	W 28-24vs Navy	10	169	16.9	1	69	Season-high 169 yds
Wk 4	L 27-34@ Missouri	18	47	2.6	0	13
Wk 5	W 35-32vs Boise State	19	113	5.9	2	22
Wk 7	L 21-31vs Tulane	5	13	2.6	0	8
Wk 8	W 45-21@ UAB	21	125	6.0	1	29
Wk 9	W 45-42@ North Texas	17	169	9.9	2	65	169-yard day
Wk 10	W 59-50vs South Florida	10	64	6.4	1	34
Wk 11	W 44-38@ Charlotte	22	83	3.8	2	15
Wk 12	L 34-38vs SMU	10	41	4.1	1	11
Wk 13	W 45-21@ Temple	15	95	6.3	1	18
Bowl	W 36-26@ Iowa State	15	107	7.1	0	55
Total		192	1152	6.3	14	69

How he plays

Play style

Threatens defenses in every dimension — rushing, receiving, third-down.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

189Carries

1063Yards

27.0%Top-5 share

19.6%Stuffed rate

Just 27.0% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 19.6% of his carries. 5 carries for 13 yds vs Tulane; 17 for 169 vs North Texas.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

~ our read

46.7%Carry share

36.1%Q4-lead share

45.7%In competitive games

46.7% of carries overall (188/403) → 36.1% of Q4-with-lead carries (35/97) — 45.7% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

11/183rd/4th & short

10/33Inside-5 share