William Watson III packed up and started over at Massachusetts, and the new tape already reads 509 team passing yards leader.
6′0″ · 210 lb · Springfield, MA
The numbers
passing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 197 pass yds, 3 TD, 40 rush yds, at Rutgers
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Senior quarterback for Massachusetts. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
William Watson III
William Watson III arrives at Massachusetts with a new fit to prove and an old chapter behind him.
TEAM PASSING YARDS LEADER
509
Team leader in passing yards (509).
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-09-22
His career
Career arc
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Don Brown, Shane Montgomery, and Joe Harasymiak. Multi-era developmental context.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Massachusetts
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Massachusetts | 43 | 57 | 75.4% | 509 | 8.9 | 5 | 1 | 175.9 | 49 | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Virginia Tech | 2 | 4 | 50.0% | 77 | 19.2 | 0 | 0 | 211.7 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Virginia Tech | 34 | 58 | 58.6% | 481 | 8.3 | 1 | 2 | 127.1 | 46 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | -- | 1 | 0.0% | -- | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 79 | 120 | 65.8% | 1,067 | 8.9 | 6 | 3 | 152.0 | 48 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Massachusetts | 19 | 82 | 4.3 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Virginia Tech | 9 | 22 | 2.4 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Virginia Tech | 40 | 19 | 0.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | 5 | 40 | 8.0 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 73 | 163 | 2.2 | 4 | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 37-21@ Rutgers | 19/22 | 197 | 3 | 0 | 9.0 | 91.3 | Season-high 197 yds |
| Wk 2 | W 37-10vs Sacred Heart | 9/10 | 152 | 1 | 0 | 15.2 | 94.4 | |
| Wk 3 | W 36-14vs Stonehill | 15/25 | 160 | 1 | 1 | 6.4 | 6.0 | |
| Total | 43/57 | 509 | 5 | 1 | 10.2 | 63.9 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2026
W 36–14
vs Stonehill
160 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 6.0 · 2 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD
Dominant 22-point win at home against Stonehill.
With T. Harding — 56 rush yds (1 car) · 1 TD · E. Phillipson — 50.7 yards per punt · 3 punts · 3 inside the 20
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +160 passing yards, +1 passing TD, +1 interception.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score percentiles
Elite: completion % (94th percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (90th percentile). Concern: pass yards (2nd percentile).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Adjusted ANY/A
9.2031 of 126 QBsSack rate
5.0%73 of 126 QBsSacked on 5.0% of dropbacks (73 of 126) — and still 31 of 126 in Adjusted ANY/A.
Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.
Behind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
Overall 75.4% completion on 57 attempts · 56% completion on 9 deep attempts (20+ air yds).
Zeitgeist Passer Rating
2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.
Thin sample: 55 dropbacks49Zeitgeist Passer Ratingnot ranked until 125 dropbacks
--NCAA passer ratingno box-score line yet
Positive-play rate weight 24%
46.4%56th pct of FBS QBsshare of dropbacks that gained expected points · -6.3% schedule adj.Yards per attempt weight 56%
6.9145th pct of FBS QBssacks excluded · -1.7 schedule adj.Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)
6.0%43th pct of FBS QBsthe input passer rating cannot see · +0.5% schedule adj.Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (5 of 60 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. Scaled against the 2025 FBS population until enough 2026 QBs qualify. How ZPR is built.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 156 | 1.0 | 10.8 | 0.5 |
| Road1g | 197 | 3.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 170 | 1.7 | 10.2 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Joe Harasymiak
Pass share
37.9%
61 pass / 100 run
Plays / game
53.7
3 games
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
Our Heisman model has him inside the top 25; he is not on a published award watch list yet.
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #38 this season.