Boise State roster countdown 2019: Day 40, Jabari Watson

It’s hard out there for the backups at defensive tackle. You spend all day getting pushed around by fat guys, and then are blamed whenever a fast dude with a low center of gravity sprints past you. To make matters worse, the starter at your position has amazing hair and his own nickname and theme song. What’s a backup DT to do?

If you’re today’s countdown, you put your nose to the grindstone and get to work.

#40, Jabari Watson, RS Junior, DT

Stats

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 269lbs

High School: Summit HS (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)

How’d he get to The Blue^TM?

A three-star defensive recruit out of California, Jabari had offers from most of the Mountain West, and at one point was even committed to Arizona. Boise State worked that official visit magic, though, and he made the right decision to switch his commitment to BSU.

Nickname

”Gigawatt” is his updated nickname. It’s my write-up, I do what I want.

Look-alike

Craig Robinson

Career highlights

2018 was a good year, as Jabari appeared in 12 games, and did yeoman work in the defensive trenches. With two shared sacks, one solo sack, and 8 tackles overall, Jabari made a noticeable impact on the field.

In high school, Jabari helped lead his team to the Sunkist League Championship after throwing down 85 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and 9 sacks. That performance earned him first-team All-Sunkist League, first-team All-CIF and San Bernadino Sun All-Area, not to mention a spot on the Inland Valley Football Classic Eastern All-Star roster.

2019 Prospectus

With David Moa back for another run at DT, and Matt Locher entering his senior season, Jabari has some solid experience to add to the DT rotation. His solid performance in the 2018 campaign should ensure he gets plenty of opportunities to play, especially since he filled in admirably for Moa while he was out injured.

There are a couple of redshirt freshman DT’s looking to make some noise, but Jabari should be a more consistent presence on the field with Moa and Locher.

Is he on Twitter?

Yes, but he seems to adhere to the old Coach Pete belief that players don’t tweet. Nothing since he arrived on campus in 2016!

Completely made up fact

Jabari never got into the smartphone craze, and still uses an ancient Microsoft Zune MP3 player on campus.