William Watson III

#5 · QB · Massachusetts6′0″ · 210 lb · Springfield, MA · Springfield Central

ZPR28104th of 119 QBs Last gameL 16–35at UConn · Oct 23

Nextvs Ball StateWed Nov 4 · 7 pm ET

Started again at UConn, the first start since Eastern Michigan, week 5.

L 16-35 at UConn, Oct 23: 22 of 38 for 205 yards, a touchdown · 7 carries for 11 yards.

Massachusetts is 4-2 in the six games played. A precision passer.

Plays most like Hayes, Tulsa.

Passing yards

1,025

96 of 138, 70%

TD–INT

8–2

7.4 per throw

NCAA rating

148.2

42nd of 119

ZPR

104th of 119

How ZPR works

Shaky or worse in 3 of 5 graded games.

Best by our grade: at Rutgers. Lowest: Stonehill, with 1 interception and sacked 2 times.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

at Rutgers

W 37–21·Unranked

Solid

197 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for 40 · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 23 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 32% to 55%.

Full game page

Sacred Heart

W 37–10·FCS

Few throws

152 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 40, 1 TD · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 23 points of win chance. Win chance: 59% to 81%.

Full game page

Stonehill

W 36–14·FCS

Rough

160 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 9 for 2, 1 TD · Sacked 2

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

at Sacramento State

W 35–6·Unranked

Rough

101 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 72, 2 TD · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q2 run added 21 points of win chance. Win chance: 59% to 81%.

Full game page

Eastern Michigan

L 14–38·Unranked

Solid

Strong start, faded late · 210 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for 13 · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 23 points of win chance. Win chance: 14% to 38%.

Full game page

Miami (OH)

L 19–20·Unranked

Did not play

at Buffalo

L 18–25·Unranked

Did not play

at UConn

L 16–35·Unranked

Rough

205 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 11 · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 13 points of win chance. It flipped the game for the team: 45% to 58%.

Full game page

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Precision passer

Also: explosive runner

Why this word

Runs4.5 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws8.9 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes69% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks5% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 4.5 carries a game. Closest matches: Hayes, Milivojevic ’25, Fifita ’25, Bailey ’25.

Where the throws go

Behind the line19%typical 17%

Short44%typical 47%

Middle24%typical 22%

Deep13%typical 14%

Runs 4.5 times a game; 56% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Hayes Tulsa · Balanced
1,343 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT so far. Close across the board.
Milivojevic ’25 Michigan State 2025 · Pocket passer
1,267 yards, 10 TD, 3 INT. Close across the board.
Fifita ’25 Arizona 2025 · Balanced
3,228 yards, 29 TD, 6 INT. Close across the board.
Bailey ’25 NC State 2025 · Rhythm passer
3,105 yards, 25 TD, 9 INT. Both complete a lot.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordMassachusetts is 4-4.

William Watson III

QB · Massachusetts · #5

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

William Watson III takes over from AJ Hairston at Massachusetts.

1,025passing yards8passing TD178rushing yards

PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP

+34

perception vs production percentile · 2026

Fans price the perception around the 5th percentile; the tape produces at the 39th — so where is the credit?

Read the story so far

William Watson III arrived as a 3-star prospect. William Watson III lines up at QB for Massachusetts.

On the field, the headline is 1,025 pass yds, with 8 pass td.

William Watson III inherited the QB job from AJ Hairston (3-star).

The number to watch: +34 — produces above perception · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith

Inherited fromAJ Hairston 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Massachusetts	96	138	69.6%	1,025	7.4	8	2	148.2	28
2025	Virginia Tech	2	4	50.0%	77	19.2	0	0	211.7	--
2024	Virginia Tech	34	58	58.6%	481	8.3	1	2	127.1	46
2023	Virginia Tech	--	1	0.0%	--	0.0	0	0	0.0	--
Career		132	201	65.7%	1,583	7.9	9	4	142.6	34

Season	Team
2026	Massachusetts	37	178	4.8	4	33
2025	Virginia Tech	9	22	2.4	1	14
2024	Virginia Tech	40	19	0.5	1	15
2023	Virginia Tech	5	40	8.0	0	14
Career		91	259	2.8	6	33

Last game (Wk 8): 205 passing yards, 1 passing TD.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 6 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 37-21@ Rutgers	Solid	19/22	197	3	0	9.0	91.3	1	40	3 TD passes
Wk 2	W 37-10vs Sacred Heart		9/10	152	1	0	15.2	94.4	0	40
Wk 3	W 36-14vs Stonehill	Rough	15/25	160	1	1	6.4	6.0	2	2
Wk 4	W 35-6@ Sacramento State	Rough	11/16	101	1	0	6.3	89.3	1	72
Wk 5	L 14-38vs Eastern Michigan	Solid	20/27	210	1	1	7.8	34.0	0	13	Season-high 210 yds
Wk 8	L 16-35@ UConn	Rough	22/38	205	1	0	5.4	9.3	2	11
Total			96/138	1025	8	2	7.4	—	6	178

The latest game

Oct. 23 · L 16-35 at UConn

22 of 38 for 205 yards and a touchdown.

His season, game by game

The season, game by game

L 16-35 at UConnOct. 23205 yds22 of 38, 1 TDPlay by play just above

L 14-38 vs Eastern MichiganOct. 3210 yds20 of 27, 1 TD, 1 INT

Play by playOn the field

20 of 27 for 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was 5 of 9 on third and fourth down.

2 of 8 of his drives scored
5 of 9 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 13 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt2 of 3, 17 yds1
Fumble4 of 4, 53 yds
Second quarterbegan down 7-0
Missed FG3 of 3, 12 yds
TD5 of 7, 60 yds2
Third quarterbegan down 14-7
Int0 of 1, 0 yds3
Downs3 of 5, 21 yds4
Fourth quarterbegan down 28-7
Punt1 of 2, 11 yds
TD2 of 2, 36 yds
FinalL 14-38

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
Incomplete to Joseph Griffin Jr. on 3rd and 4. First quarter, tied 0-0. Broken up by Eastern Michigan’s D. Williams.
2
34-yard touchdown pass to Max Dowling. Second quarter, cut it to 14-7.
3
Intercepted. Third quarter, down 21-7. Picked off by Eastern Michigan’s Caleb Dobbs.
4
Incomplete to Jabari Lewis on 4th and 3. Third quarter, down 28-7. Turnover on downs. Broken up by Eastern Michigan’s C. Dobbs.

102030405034

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

4 more games, with the play by play

W 35-6 at Sacramento StateSept. 26101 yds11 of 16, 1 TDBox score only

11 of 16 for 101 yards and a touchdown.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 36-14 vs StonehillSept. 19160 yds15 of 25, 1 TD, 1 INTBox score only

15 of 25 for 160 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 37-10 vs Sacred HeartSept. 12152 yds9 of 10, 1 TD

Play by playOn the field

9 of 10 for 152 yards and a touchdown. He was 1 of 3 on third and fourth down.

3 of 4 of his drives scored
1 of 3 on 3rd and 4th down
4 runs for 40 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD1 of 1, 49 yds1
FG4 of 5, 41 yds
Second quarterbegan up 17-0
Punt3 of 3, 23 yds
TD1 of 1, 39 yds
FinalW 37-10

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

No game thread archived for this game yet.

1
49-yard touchdown pass to Ty Harding. First quarter, made it 7-0.

10203040503949

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 37-21 at RutgersSept. 3197 yds19 of 22, 3 TD

Play by playOn the field

19 of 22 for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was 3 of 8 on third and fourth down.

4 of 9 of his drives scored
3 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
5 runs for 40 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD2 of 3, 51 yds1
TD6 of 6, 47 yds2
Second quarterbegan tied 7-7
TD1 of 1, 31 yds3
Half2 of 3, 15 yds
Third quarterbegan up 24-7
FG3 of 3, 34 yds
Punt1 of 1, 3 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 27-7
Punt2 of 3, 6 yds
Punt1 of 1, 2 yds
Half1 of 1, 8 yds
FinalW 37-21

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
10-yard run on 3rd and 6. First quarter, down 7-0. Converted.
2
4-yard completion to Max Dowling on 3rd and 5. First quarter, tied 7-7.
3
31-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Griffin Jr.. Second quarter, made it 21-7.

10203040503130

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	at Rutgers	W 37-21 · Graded solid · 197 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT · Rush 6 for 40 · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	Stonehill	W 36-14 · Graded rough · 160 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · Rush 9 for 2, 1 TD · Sacked 2

Where he ranks

Tied for 1st among Mid-American quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns. 2nd among Mid-American quarterbacks in completion percentage.

Stat	His	Nation	Mid-American
Passing yards	1,025	115th of 370	10th of 34
Yards an attempt	7.4	T-79th of 152	4th of 14
Touchdown passes	8	T-94th of 370	8th of 34
Passer rating	148.2	45th of 152	3rd of 14
Completion percentage	69.6	T-17th of 152	2nd of 14
Rushing yards	178	T-71st of 370	8th of 34
Rushing touchdowns	4	T-38th of 370	T-1st of 34

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All Mid-American quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	John Alan Richter	2,244	17	2	259	8.7
2	Noah Kim	1,678	11	4	285	5.9
3	Dru DeShields	1,624	9	7	251	6.5
4	Jay Kastantin	1,567	11	8	225	7.0
5	Broc Lowry	1,397	11	3	194	7.2
6	Jason Wright	1,345	9	6	231	5.8
7	Brayden Roggow	1,343	7	10	192	7.0
8	Keldric Luster	1,300	9	6	211	6.2
9	David McComb	1,120	7	1	103	10.9
10	William Watson III	1,025	8	2	138	7.4
11	Nick Poulos	966	7	0	117	8.3
12	Caleb Heavner	769	4	4	125	6.2
13	Cibastian Broughton	612	4	1	100	6.1
14	Angel H Flores	475	2	2	92	5.2
15	Jadyn Glasser	463	2	3	74	6.3
16	Logan Inagawa	296	1	1	37	8.0
17	Tyler Mizzell	260	1	0	38	6.8
18	Elijah Holmes	253	3	0	61	4.1
19	Carson Conklin	222	0	1	46	4.8
20	Brogan McCaughey	215	1	1	43	5.0
21	Levi Davis	203	2	0	27	7.5
22	Aedan McCarthy	182	0	0	33	5.5
23	Brian Salazar	99	1	0	10	9.9
24	Trey Petty	59	1	0	8	7.4
25	Marcus Beamon	40	0	0	8	5.0
26	Walter Moses	40	1	0	1	40.0
27	Jace Stuckey	24	0	0	5	4.8
28	Nolan Good	24	0	2	14	1.7
29	Khamoni Robinson	21	0	1	6	3.5
30	Austin Novosad	20	0	0	7	2.9
31	Ethan Thanthanavong	16	0	0	2	8.0
32	Mason Atkins	10	0	0	1	10.0
33	Semaj Beals	0	0	0	1	0.0
34	Deante Ruffin	-1	0	0	3	-0.3

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Touchdown passes8tied for 8th in the Mid-American this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +1 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Griffin and Dowling saw 45 of the 138 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Joseph Griffin Jr.	24	12	211	18.9	6.6
Max Dowling	21	13	98	5.6	3.6
Ty Harding	20	19	236	9.8	2.3
Jabari Lewis	18	12	162	10.4	5.6
Reece Adkins	15	12	92	6.0	3.3
7 others	37	28	226	4.1	4.6
No receiver charted	3	Both interceptions are among these

Play by play: 138 passes, 96 caught, 1,025 yards. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

96/138 (69.6%) · 8 TD · 2 INT

138 of 138 attempts matched to play-by-play

138 of 138 attempts charted for true throw depth

Adjusted ANY/A

7.3959 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

4.2%62 of 185 QBs

Rarely sacked (62 of 185 QBs) and still 59 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

17% of attempts (23)

91%comp

Air -2.9 · YAC 5.6 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

49% of attempts (67)

73%comp

Air 4.1 · YAC 3.6 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

22% of attempts (31)

65%comp2 INT

Air 13.6 · YAC 5.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

12% of attempts (17)

35%comp

Air 34.6 · YAC 2.3 avg

Overall 69.6% completion on 138 attempts · 35% completion on 17 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2023Virginia Tech7-6HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning

2024Virginia Tech6-7HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning

2025Virginia Tech3-9HC: Brent Pry and Philip Montgomery · Run-leaning

2026Massachusetts4-4HC: Joe Harasymiak · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 43 (#85 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

43Rotational starter #85 of 145 · through 6 games?

13 metrics · season cumulative

through 6 games score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: fumbles lost (92nd percentile). Strength: completion % (89th percentile). Concern: pass yards (25th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Interception rate#40 / 157 · 75th pct

1.4%

EPA / dropback#43 / 157 · 73rd pct

0.28

Sack rate#46 / 157 · 71st pct

4.2%

Success rate#76 / 157 · 52nd pct

42.7%

Explosive rate#81 / 157 · 49th pct

10.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 142 · 92nd pct

Completion %#18 / 159 · 89th pct

69.6%

Interceptions#18 / 159 · 81st pct

Rush TDs#28 / 159 · 79th pct

Rush yards#58 / 159 · 64th pct

178

Yards / att#82 / 159 · 48th pct

7.4

Pass TDs#97 / 159 · 36th pct

Pass yards#120 / 159 · 25th pct

1025

Season trend

EPA / dropback— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Sack rate— first qualifying season

Interception rate— first qualifying season

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).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 128 dropbacks

28Zeitgeist Passer Rating104th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 148.2 42nd of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 62 places lower than passer rating does: the schedule adjustment debits the defenses faced.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

40.6%10th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -6.3% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

5.926th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · -1.3 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

6.8%31st pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +2.1% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (15 of 143 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 6 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home3g	174	1.0	9.8	0.7
Road3g	168	1.7	6.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-75g	164	1.4	8.9	0.4
Weeks 8+1g	205	1.0	5.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Joe Harasymiak

Pass share

44.3%

208 pass / 261 run

Plays / game

58.6

8 games

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Massachusetts’s quarterbacks

William Watson III	Threw in 6 of 8 games · 96 of 138, 1,025 yds, 8 TD, 2 INT · 7.4 yards an attempt on 138 attempts · ran for 178 yds, 4 TD
Logan Inagawa	Threw in 3 of 8 games · 24 of 37, 296 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT · 8.0 yards an attempt on 37 attempts · ran for 75 yds, 1 TD
Aedan McCarthy	Threw in 2 of 8 games · 17 of 33, 182 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 5.5 yards an attempt on 33 attempts · ran for -3 yds, 0 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: William Watson III. Gray: Aedan McCarthy, Logan Inagawa. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4OT@ RutgersSacred HeartStonehill@ Sacramento StateEastern MichiganMiami (OH)@ Buffalo@ UConn

Awards

Player standing · 2026

138 pass attempts and 37 carries in 6 games

Fewer passes and runs a game than most FBS quarterbacks who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

43 · #85 of 145 QBs · through 6 games

Three-star recruit. Now #85 at the position.

William Watson III

Style of play

This week

In the game threads

Named in

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Massachusetts’s quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

138 pass attempts and 37 carries in 6 games

Four seasons, two schools

Moves

2023

2026 6 games