Go Go Gadget Arms: Ryan Watts’ height sets a record mark

If you listen to The Terrible Podcast, you’ll quickly discover that half the show is me and Dave Bryan asking and trying to answer our own questions. For the last couple of episodes, we’ve been discussing the arm length of sixth-round pick DB Ryan Watts. With arms measuring 34 1/2 inches, he’s taller than Joey Porter.

The question we had: Has anyone crossed the Watts mark? After Friday’s show, I finally decided to sit down and find out. the answer? No. Okay, maybe.

It depends on how you classify it. As a cornerback, the position he played primarily at Texas, his arms were longer than anyone else’s. According to MockDraftable, the draft’s RAS tool existed before RAS existed. There was no angle longer than the 34 1/2-inch Chrome Watts.

According to their list, there are only a few corners that can be scored with arms larger than 34 inches.

Rear corners with arms larger than 34 inches (since 1999)

1. Ryan Watts/Texas – 34 1/2 inches (2024)
2. Deondre Hall/Northern Iowa – 34 3/8 inches (2016)
3. Ru Torrence/Arizona State – 34 1/8 inches (2024)
4. Brian Jackson/Oklahoma – 34 inch (2010)
4. Israel Mukwamo / South Carolina – 34 inch (2021)
4. Joey Porter Jr./Penn State – 34 inches (2023)
4. JoJo Prentiss/Kansas State – 34 inches (2023)

Two of them are Steelers at present. What is clear is that arm length does not translate to immediate and automatic success in the NFL. Hall, Jackson and Mukuamo were unsuccessful. But Porter has looked solid as a starter, while the Colts hold great promise for Prentiss. However, Watts tops them all.

The debate, even if it’s semantics, is what Watts wants to call it. Draftniks viewed him as a potential safety conversion in the NFL due to his lack of long speed. Watts is thrown into the safety bucket, and at least one player is taller than him. That was Louisville’s Josh Harvey Clemons with ridiculous 35 3/8-inch arms in the 2017 NFL Draft. He became a seventh-round pick and didn’t have much of a career, appearing in 35 games (one for every inch of his arms, I think). He played primarily on special teams. And even he He was viewed as a safety/linebacker hybrid due to his slow 40 catches. You can add a warning next to its name as well. True NFL safety George Iloka checked the same arm as Watts, 34 1/2 inches, and had a successful career.

All of this could be listed as “draft anomalies” rather than anything incredibly meaningful. But Pittsburgh is clearly looking for a big, tall defensive back, drafting Watts, Porter and Corey Trice (6’33, 205 lbs, 32 3/8″) over the top two classes for Omar Khan.

There’s a reason why Watts, despite his unique personality, fell to the end of the sixth round. Concerns about speed, NFL suitability and light college production cannot be ignored. But at least this article answered my question, and perhaps yours. Watts’ arms are the longest on cornerbacks.