Former Ole Miss wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. has committed to LSU, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Watkins played in all 15 of the Rebels’ games this past season as a true freshman. In his debut campaign, Watkins recorded 26 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, notched 21 rushing yards on five carries. […]
Former Ole Miss wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. has committed to LSU, via the NCAA Transfer Portal. Watkins played in all 15 of the Rebels’ games this past season as a true freshman.
In his debut campaign, Watkins recorded 26 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, notched 21 rushing yards on five carries.
Watkins had his best performance of the season in Ole Miss’ 34-26 win over Oklahoma on Oct. 15. In the victory, Watkins tallied four receptions for a career-high 111 yards. Watkins’ spectacular season didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
“Winn has been great,” Ole Miss junior wide receiver Harrison Wallace III said. “You don’t really see a lot of young guys come in with the mentality that he has — just coming in and making it hard to keep him off the field. Just making plays day in and day out. You know what you’re going to get out of him every day. So, really proud of him, and he’s going to be a great player.”
Winston Watkins played high school football at Venice (FL), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 294 overall player and No. 41 wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.
Winston only recorded one catch for three yards in Ole Miss’ season-ending loss to Miami in the College Football Playoff semifinals. At the time of his commitment to LSU, Watkins was the No. 25 wide receiver in On3’s 2026 Transfer Portal Player Rankings.
Winston will now follow former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU. Kiffin accepted an offer to be LSU’s next head coach in November. In turn, Ole Miss didn’t allow Kiffin to coach the Rebels in the postseason.
Kiffin signed a seven-year, $91 million deal with LSU. The 50-year-old HC has high hopes for his tenure at LSU.
“This place is built for championships with championship expectations. We understand that, but as an elite competitor, that’s exactly what you want, and that’s why we’re here,” Kiffin said at his introductory press conference. “… I know that we have—with the passion of the LSU family and our LSU players—that we have everything to bring championship football back to LSU.
“It’s time for LSU to take its place back as the best program in all of college football. … I’m uniquely prepared at 50 years old for this job to have been so many places, done good things, made a lot of mistakes and made them really early on.”
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
Category: General Sports
