Kentucky moved quickly and now has a four-star tight end in its 2026 recruiting class.
Port Huron (Mich.) Northern tight end Lincoln Watkins announced his commitment to the Wildcats. Watkins is the eighth known commitment of the cycle for the Wildcats as the program looks to jumpstart its recruiting efforts.
This wasn’t always the school that was in the picture for the Michigan playmaker. Back on June 10 he opted to reset his recruitment and open things up to new schools. At that point, his recruitment was a battle between Florida and Nebraska.
But just a few days after that Kentucky swooped in and offered him a scholarship. Watkins actually received the first phone call from new tight ends coach Derek Shay. The coach relayed to Watkins that the team had him as the number one tight end on the board and would be thrilled to have him.
Then on June 17 he popped up for a mid-week official visit in Lexington. Watkins told Rivals what he was hoping to see during that visit.
“What Kentucky’s plans are for me in the proceeding future and if this is a place I can truly be developed into the player I want to be,” Watkins told Rivals.
During that visit Watkins saw what he needed. And now Kentucky is going to benefit from quickly moving into action after the Michigan native shook up his recruitment.
The people at Kentucky and the environment on campus pushed things over the edge for Watkins. They made him feel like a huge priority too. Coach Mark Stoops sees Watkins as the type of player that can be thrown right into the action as a freshman.
“Honestly, to be completely honest with you, what I’m most excited about is just the people here,” Watkins said. Coach Stoops and everyone made me feel so welcome and that’s the main reason I picked them.”
As a junior Watkins did a little bit of everything for Northern. He hauled in 39 catches for 668 yards, ran the ball for 245 yards and had 17 total touchdowns. For good measure, he chipped in 42 total tackles on defense.
Watkins is just a good football player that you want to have on your team. He’ll be a tight end in college and has the chance to excel in that role. He’s got strong hands to make contested catches and good long speed.
