Who is number 84 for the Chiefs?

The sport of American football has two basic sides, the offense and the defense as the major contributors to the game. On the offense, despite all positions being important ones, a couple of key positions include the quarterback and the wide receivers. The wide receivers are the team’s primary pass catchers who have to run various routes to put themselves in a position to catch the ball.

Wide receivers need to be versatile enough to run as many routes as possible which is important as different routes require different skills. Receivers need to have good speed, acceleration, balance, and exceptional hands and also need to know where they are on the field as many times they are busy tracking the ball.

In the 2023 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver room received a lot of flak from experts of the game, commentators, and analysts mainly due to the number of dropped passes the team had. The Chiefs’ receivers included rookie Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Morre, and more. But, in this article, we will take a look at one receiver in particular, Justin Watson.

Chiefs Number 84 Justin Watson

Justin Watson is one of the members of the Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receivers room. He wears the number 84 jersey and is one of the Chiefs' go-to receivers on deep balls. The Chiefs receiver was born in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1996, to parents Terri and Doug Watson.

As a kid, Watson attended South Fayette High School in Pennsylvania where he lettered three years in football and was also the captain of the team in his senior year. He then joined the University of Pennsylvania where he played on the Penn Quakers football team for four years before entering the 2018 NFL Draft.

Watson stands at 6 feet 2 inches and has a well-balanced frame. His height allows him to contest the 50-50 balls and has a good chance of latching on to the ball in difficult situations. Moreover, Watson seems to glide effortlessly on the football turf as he has decent speed and excellent body control. He has a good presence on the field which allows him to plant both of his feet firmly inside the sidelines while going for the tough catches near the sides of the field.

Justin Watson NFL Journey

After entering the 2018 draft, Watson was selected in the fifth round with pick number 144 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Watson spent the first four years of his NFL career in Tampa Bay where he didn’t get to see much action.

His second year with the Bucs was his best year in terms of production as a wide receiver, but even then he had just 15 receptions for 159 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. In the 2021 season, he was part of the Bucs team that won Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 2022, Watson was signed for a one-year deal by the Chiefs which proved to be the best year of his career at that point. Catching 15 passes for 315 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns, he helped the team win Super Bowl LVII over the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2023, Watson’s role in the Chiefs offense has increased and things are looking much better for his future.