| Gunnar Watson | |
| Currentteam: | Buffalo Bills |
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Birth Date: | 11 January 2000 |
| Birth Place: | Macon, Georgia, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 210 |
| Highlights: | |
| High School: | Taylor County (Butler, Georgia) |
| College: | Troy (2018–2023) |
| Undraftedyear: | 2024 |
| Pastteams: |
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| Status: | Undrafted free agent |
Milton Gunnar Watson (born January 11, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Troy Trojans.
Watson grew up in Butler, Georgia and attended Taylor County High School where he lettered in football and baseball.[1] [2] He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Troy over offers from Austin Peay, Mercer and South Alabama.[3] [4]
During Watson's true freshman season in 2018, he played in two games as a reserve quarterback and finished the season completing 8 out of 14 passing attempts for 45 yards.[5] During the 2019 season, he played as the backup quarterback playing in six games and finishing the year with completing 13 out of 22 passing attempts for 89 yards.[6] During the 2020 season, Watson was named as the starting quarterback.[7] He started in nine games during the season and finished the season with completing 211 out of 307 passing attempts for 2,141 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.[8] During the game against Texas State, he made 33 completions which had him named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, a Manning Award Star of the Week[9] and the Davey O'Brien Great 8 List.[10] During the 2021 season, he played in eight games and finished the season with completing 140 out of 228 passing attempts for 1,613 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.[11] During the 2022 season, he played in 13 games and finished the season with completing 206 out of 335 passing attempts for 2,818 yards and 14 touchdowns.[12] He was named the MVP of the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game after completing 12 out of 17 passing attempts for 318 yards and three touchdowns.[13] [14] [15]
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| Troy Trojans | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 12 | 66.7 | 45 | 3.8 | 0 | 0 | 98.2 | 4 | -18 | -4.5 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | — | 13 | 22 | 59.1 | 89 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 93.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 9 | 9 | 4−5 | 211 | 301 | 70.1 | 2,141 | 7.1 | 16 | 7 | 142.7 | 30 | -66 | -2.2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 7 | 3−4 | 140 | 228 | 61.4 | 1,613 | 7.1 | 8 | 4 | 128.9 | 27 | -64 | -2.4 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 13 | 12 | 10−2 | 206 | 335 | 61.5 | 2,818 | 8.4 | 14 | 12 | 138.8 | 61 | -173 | -2.8 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 14 | 14 | 11−3 | 268 | 439 | 61.0 | 3,569 | 8.1 | 27 | 6 | 146.9 | 51 | -106 | -2.1 | 1 | |
| Career[16] | 52 | 42 | 28−14 | 846 | 1,337 | 63.3 | 10,275 | 7.7 | 65 | 29 | 139.5 | 173 | -427 | -2.5 | 4 | |