Film Room: Landyn Watson

Off-ball linebacker was a big need this offseason for the Kentucky football program with Jamon Dumas-Johnson and D’Eryk Jackson heading to the NFL Draft. We saw Kentucky’s run defense take a big dip once Jackson was lost to injury. The Wildcats added five scholarship players to the position in the 2023 and 2024 high school recruiting hauls but some veteran help was needed.

Landyn Watson will provide that veteran help after committing to Kentucky on Saturday night.

Had to turn that money blue..
COMMITTED !!!!#BigBlueNation 🔵 pic.twitter.com/6DSvW5fHhq

— Landyn Watson (@landynwatson) December 15, 2024

The linebacker transfer was a high three-star recruit out of Hutto (Texas) High in Metro Austin who was committed to LSU during the 2021 recruiting cycle before flipping to TCU. After two seasons in the Big 12, Watson moved to Marshall and became a full-time starter as a redshirt junior. The newest Kentucky linebacker recorded 69 tackles, four tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble in 619 snaps over 11 games playing for head coach Charles Huff.

Landyn Watson will be expected to compete immediately for a starting position this spring. What will the Sun Belt transfer brings to the defense? Watson is a big off-ball linebacker (6-1, 239) who moves well and is productive in run support.

Production in the box

Marshall’s run defense (No. 82 in success rate allowed) struggled in 2024, but Landyn Watson was mostly a strength for this front seven against the run. The newest Kentucky addition shows off play recognition, striking at the point of attack, and ability to chase in the box.

Watson shows great play recognition when seeing a pulling tackle in the low red zone and plays through traffic to create a run stuff. The off-ball linebacker stones a run on a scrape and does an overall good job at pursuing through the box.

Kentucky’s off-ball linebackers struggled to fit the run in the box over the last month of the season. That appears to be a strength for Landyn Watson. The transfer brings good size to the position and was a productive player in run support.

Landyn Watson fills a need for Kentucky’s defense

Landyn Watson did not receive any extended playing time in college until year four. The Lonestar State native took advantage of that opportunity with a productive season, but did miss the final two games to an unspecified injury. Durability will be a question mark for the redshirt senior.

There are some other prove it areas for the latest addition to Kentucky’s linebacker room.

Watson was consistently pulled off the field by Marshall’s staff in obvious passing situations, but was effective when asked to blitz and often played some on the edge for the Thundering Herd. Tackling efficiency (17.7% missed tackle rate) will be something to monitor as he moves up a level. Watson also has a tendency to get stuck on blocks and needs to do a better job of striking and disengaging. The linebacker typically goes to a spin move too often and that can cause him to get out of position when facing blockers.

But there is also something clear and tangible he brings to the table. Similar to the addition of USC transfer Sam Greene, Landyn Watson should help upgrade Kentucky’s run support. The free agent addition gives UK some much-needed size at off-ball linebacker and run game production.

Kentucky must fix their run defense this offseason after it fell apart during the team’s collapse over the last month of the season. The newest addition should help. Expect Watson to play a big role for the Cats in 2025.