{"id":506015,"date":"2026-01-10T11:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T11:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/506015\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T11:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T11:22:11","slug":"ole-miss-wr-winston-watkins-plans-to-enter-ncaa-transfer-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/506015\/","title":{"rendered":"Ole Miss WR Winston Watkins plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ole Miss<\/a><\/strong> wide receiver Winston Watkins<\/a><\/strong> plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3\u2019s Hayes Fawcett. Watkins played in all 15 of the Rebels\u2019 games this past season as a true freshman.<\/p>\n

In his debut campaign, Watkins recorded 26 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, notched 21 rushing yards on five carries.<\/p>\n

Watkins had his best performance of the season in Ole Miss\u2019 34-26 win over Oklahoma<\/a><\/strong> on Oct. 15. In the victory, Watkins tallied four receptions for a career-high 111 yards. Watkins\u2019 spectacular season didn\u2019t go unnoticed by his fellow wideouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinn has been great,\u201d\u00a0Ole Miss junior wide receiver Harrison Wallace III said<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cYou don\u2019t really see a lot of young guys come in with the mentality that he has \u2014 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\u2019re going to get out of him every day. So, really proud of him, and he\u2019s going to be a great player.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Winston only recorded one catch for three yards in Ole Miss\u2019 season-ending loss to Miami<\/a><\/strong> in the College Football Playoff<\/a><\/strong> semifinals. The Rebels suffered a 31-27 defeat after Miami quarterback Carson Beck<\/a><\/strong> ran in a touchdown with 24 seconds remaining in the game.<\/p>\n

Though the loss stings for Ole Miss, the postseason was a promising sign for the Rebels. After head coach Lane Kiffin<\/a><\/strong> left the program to take over at LSU<\/a><\/strong> ahead of the playoffs, college football pundits were unsure how Ole Miss would respond.<\/p>\n

Alas, the Rebels thrived with new head coach Pete Golding<\/a><\/strong> at the helm. They defeated Tulane<\/a><\/strong> and Georgia<\/a><\/strong> in their CFP run. Golding believes the future is bright for his program.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these fans have invested a lot in a lot of different ways over a lot of years. And they deserve this,\u201d Golding said. \u201cThey deserve a better outcome, but they deserve these opportunities, and they deserve for these opportunities to be on a consistent basis. That\u2019s the expectation that our chancellor and Keith [Carter] has set for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3\u2019s Transfer Portal\u00a0wire<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter account<\/a>\u00a0are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.<\/p>\n