Watson moves quickly commits to Arizona

It took just about two weeks for Lawrenceville (Ga.) Mountain View defensive tackle Elijah Watson to make his decision. Coming out of his visit to Arizona in mid-April the 6-foot-4 recruit was already leaning toward the Wildcats and as the NFL Draft played out Watson tweeted out Friday night that he had a surprise once Scooby Wright was selected.

The "surprise" ended up being his commitment to Wright's former school on Saturday.

Rich Rodriguez's staff emerged with an offer when Watson made the trip to Tucson and getting that offer on the visit stuck with the New Jersey native now living in Georgia.

“It’s one of the first things I thought about," Watson said of Arizona emerging with an early offer when he visited. "They took a chance on me and they were one of the first schools to offer me. They didn’t wait and it’s going to make a big difference. Right now they’re at the top of my list. I have a couple small offers, but it’s going to go a long way for them.”

Watson chose UA over offers from Ball State, Elon, Mercer and Samford. In the end playing the Pac-12 and taking advantage of his Power-5 offer was important in the end. Even though he lives on the other side of the country he is plenty familiar with his new conference and program.

"I know a lot about the Pac-12," he said. "There's a lot of good schools. You've got Oregon, USC, UCLA, Cal, Arizona and ASU. It's good football. I grew up playing NCAA games and watching college football, so I knew a lot about it."

Watson finished his junior season with with 70 tackles, including 17 for loss, and six sacks. As Arizona looks to bolster its defensive line Watson is the latest piece to the group - which has been an area of focus for the coaching staff in the 2017 recruiting cycle.

"They want me as a defensive tackle," Watson said. "They brought in a new defensive line coach this season, Vince Amey, and he's all about getting after the quarterback. I feel that's something I excel at and enjoy doing. They want me to play to come in and play defensive tackle and put pressure on the quarterback, and I'm all for it."

Watson is the seventh commitment for Arizona in the 2017 class and the fourth expected to come in on defense in the class.