Go Go Gadget Arms: Ryan Watts Length Sets Record Mark

If you listen to The Terrible Podcast, you quickly find out half the show is Dave Bryan and me asking and attempting to answer our own questions. The last couple episodes, we’ve been discussing sixth-round DB Ryan Watts’ arm length. With 34 1/2-inch arms, he’s longer than Joey Porter.

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

It depends on how you classify him. As a cornerback, the position he primarily played at Texas, his arms are longer than anyone else’s. According to MockDraftable, the draft’s RAS tool before RAS existed, no corner has had more length than Watts’ 34 1/2 inch vines. 

According to their list, there’s only a handful of corners to check in with 34-plus inch arms.

Cornerbacks With 34-Plus Inch Arms (Since 1999)

1. Ryan Watts/Texas – 34 1/2 inches (2024)
2. Deiondre’ Hall/Northern Iowa – 34 3/8 inches (2016)
3. Ro Torrence/Arizona State – 34 1/8 inches (2024)
4. Brian Jackson/Oklahoma – 34 inches (2010)
4. Israel Mukuamu/South Carolina – 34 inches (2021)
4. Joey Porter Jr./Penn State – 34 inches (2023)
4. JuJu Brents/Kansas State – 34 inches (2023)

Two of them are present-day Steelers. What’s clear is that arm length doesn’t translate to immediate and automatic NFL success. Hall, Jackson, and Mukuamu didn’t pan out. But Porter looked strong as a rookie, while the Colts hold promise for Brents. Still, Watts tops them all.

The debate, even if it’s semantics, is what you want to call Watts. Draftniks viewed him as a possible safety conversion at the NFL due to a lack of long speed. Dumping Watts in the safety bucket, and there’s at least one player longer 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 who didn’t have much of a career, appearing in 35 games (one for each inch of his arms, I suppose) and primarily playing on special teams. And even he was viewed as a safety/linebacker hybrid due to a slow 40 time. You can add a caveat next to his name, too. True NFL safety George Illoka checked in the same as Watts, 34 1/2 inch-arms, and had a successful career.

All of this can be filed under “draft oddities” rather than anything incredibly meaningful. But it’s obvious Pittsburgh is looking for big and long defensive backs, drafting Watts, Porter, and Cory Trice (6033, 205 pounds, 32 3/8-inch arms) over Omar Khan’s first two classes.

There’s a reason Watts, despite his unique profile, fell to the end of the sixth round. Concerns over speed, NFL fit, and light college production can’t be ignored. But at least this article answered my question—and maybe yours. Watts’ arms are the longest for a corner.