St. Mary's football's Davon Watkins, Teddy Androus make it official with Maryland, Navy on national signing day

Dec. 20—By Katherine Fominykh — Kfominykh@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED:December 20, 2023 at 5:06 p.m.| UPDATED:December 20, 2023 at 5:06 p.m.

In 2014, Davon Watkins wandered the grocery store near his home when he was approached with his future.

The 8-year-old met Rico Queen, an assistant for the St. Mary's football team and a coach for Arbutus youth football. Little did Watkins know what was really coming up to him near stacks of packaged food was a path to his dreams.

"Rico wanted to know if I still played football, and I said I was still looking for a team," Watkins said. "He said, 'Just come on down.'"

Watkins took Queen up on his offer.

Fast forward nine years to Wednesday morning, the first day of college football's early signing period, inside an ancient brick house on St. Mary's grounds. The 6-foot-5 Watkins towered over a crowd and his teammate, Teddy Androus, with a red Maryland crewneck on, a warm smile on his face and his hands gripping a symbolic stack of papers representing his signed National Letter of Intent to play football for the Terps. The three-star offensive lineman, MIAA All-Conference select, Al Laramore Award runner-up and Capital Gazette first team All-County offensive tackle technically turned in his signature earlier.

"A couple years ago, I was watching on TV and thought I wanted to try to get to Maryland," Watkins said. "So it's a dream come true."

After missing a year of football at Howard due to the coronavirus pandemic, Watkins followed Queen when je joined coach Jason Budroni and the Saints. Budroni laughs when he thinks of the big kid that arrived on his field, quiet as a mouse. The coach deployed Watkins on defense then; his understanding of the offense wasn't there yet. But the quality that strikes Budroni most about Watkins now was true then, too: speed.

"He's 325 pounds and he moves like he's 270," Budroni said. "There's plays we ran with him where he's outrunning our running back. He moves so well for his size."

He is ranked as the No. 63 offensive tackle in the class of 2024 and No. 23 player overall from Maryland according to 247sports.com.

Watkins' technique sharpened between his sophomore and junior years. Budroni tattooed him to the offensive line and Maryland came to see him. Offensive line coach Brian Braswell invited Watkins to spring drills, then camp before offering him.

Rutgers and Cincinnati paid some attention to Watkins, but for a while, Budroni said that was about it. It upset the coach as much as it baffled him that more attention didn't come for what the St. Mary's coach predicts will be a pro lineman. Temple, Akron and Kent State ultimately offered Watkins as well.

"It just seemed like a no-brainer," Budroni said. "He's big, he's so strong. He's not a gym rat, but he steps up. His ceiling on what he can be is outrageous. He has so much potential."

As an underclassman, Watkins hardly talked. Then, before his senior year, Watkins passed Budroni and quipped, "What's up?" causing the coach to jump back in surprise. The coach laughed at the memory.

Watkins, who lets little kids climb him like "an amusement park" when Budroni takes his team to the elementary school, who was named Homecoming King, finally got a little Mr. Hyde to his Dr. Jekyll.

He started talking trash on the field," Budroni said. "He changed it up on the field. It was nice to see him grow up and become a dominant force on the field. He went up against a lot of good kids and put it on them."

For both Watkins and Androus, who officially commited to Navy football on Wednesday as well, this final high school season put their responsibilities into a new perspective. Last fall's senior-heavy class bred an unbeaten season and a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title. This year's offense was comprised of mostly former backups and underclassmen.

"When things get hard, the guys are looking to a select few seniors, and I think Davon and I were two of those," Androus said. "The biggest thing was not yelling at the guys, or trying to control or do too much. We focused on going as hard as we can, knowing there's eyes on us, knowing the younger guys will go out and emulate that hard work."

A 4-5 record did nothing to sway Androus' feelings towards his decision to commit to football over lacrosse, which had been his initial path. There's a light to his eyes when he speaks of football that fades when he speaks of other sports. Plus, the inside linebacker recorded 105 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble, a safety and two blocked kicks.

"I'm so proud of Davon and myself. It's fulfilling to know, while I still have goals in mind, I'm doing what I want and that I have no regrets on this day," Androus said. "A year and a half ago, it was so unknown. I couldn't be happier today."

Like Androus, Watkins' goals are not only football-based. Sure, he intends to help the Terps beat Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, but he also sees himself transforming into a better man.

"I got more stuff to do," Watkins said. "Just gotta keep working."

Here are some other Anne Arundel County players who officially signed their Letters of Intent to play football at Division I schools Wednesday:

Archbishop Spalding

Tyler Brown, James Madison

RJ Newton, Holy Cross

Keion Flowers, Maryland

Keyshawn Flowers, Maryland

Broadneck

Eli Harris, Navy

Anthony Hawkins, Villanova

Severn

Bo Fowler, Richmond

Share this:

— Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

— Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

—