Christian Watson confirms he has met with the 49ers; discusses Trey Lance as a leader

It’s draft season! This means fans are going to start pining for certain players to be drafted to their favorite team as they discover their favorite draft crushes throughout the pre-draft process. For a lot of 49ers fans, that player happens to be North Dakota State wide receiver, Christian Watson.

Watson is a big, physical, and strong receiver that also possesses a tremendous amount of burst and explosiveness. He also happens to be a former college teammate of 49ers quarterback Trey Lance, who spent three years playing with Watson for the FCS powerhouse Bison.

When you put together the talent and the existing chemistry between Watson and Lance, it becomes easy to see why so many 49ers fans would be pushing for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan to select the wideout in the upcoming NFL draft.

Here in Indianapolis at the combine, I was able to ask Watson a couple of questions during his media availability. I asked him about his experience with Trey Lance as a leader and if Lance has been guiding him through the pre-draft process. I then asked if Watson had met with the 49ers in Indianapolis this week, which he confirmed he did.

I’ll provide the questions and answers below:

From your experience with him as a teammate, how would you describe Trey Lance as a leader?

“As a leader, I’d just describe Trey Lance as that guy. He’s a dude in everything that he does on and off the field. He’s a student of the game. Everything he does is him trying to get better at being a man and being a football player. So Trey Lance is a dude.”

To me, the tone in which this was said was more important than the words. Watson came across as someone genuinely searching for an adequate way to describe traits in someone who he clearly has the utmost respect for.

It did not feel like it was a scenario where he was giving some cookie-cutter response for the sake of building up a teammate in an interview just because. This felt like it came from the heart, and there was a clear admiration from Watson for the way Lance carries himself as a quarterback and as a human being.

I followed up my initial question by asking Watson if he had met with the 49ers at the combine in Indianapolis this week.

Have you met with the 49ers?

“I have”

Straight to the point. The quick, easy answer that is sure to pique the interest of any 49ers fan interested in Watson. The reality is these teams will meet with dozens of players throughout the week. However, the connection with Lance and the fact the 49ers took the time to meet with Watson is certainly something to keep an eye on going forward.