DELRAY BEACH – One phone call can change a life forever. 

This weekend, 259 men will hear their names get called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. One of these prospects is Marquis Waters, who is a defensive back from Texas Tech.

Waters is a local Palm Beach County alum, where he attended Atlantic High, graduating early in January of 2017. Throughout his time at Atlantic, he played running back, defensive back, and special teams. And throughout his high school career, Waters solidified himself as one of the best players in Florida after recording:

    •    139 carries for 1,467 yards  
    •    21 rushing touchdowns
    •    1 kick return for touchdown
    •    1 punt return for touchdown
    •    2 blocked field goals
    •    5 Interceptions  
    •    100 tackles
    •    15 tackles for loss
    •    19 pass breakups
    •    2 forced fumbles

This impressive stat line helped Waters secure Second-Team All-County honors as a junior and First-Team All-County honors as a senior by the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He was rated as three-star recruit by Rivals.com and 247Sports. He was also the No. 67-ranked athlete in the country by ESPN.

Waters had 20 Division I offers, including the following: California, Duke, Iowa State, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, N.C. State, Nebraska, Purdue, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. He ended up committing to the Duke Blue Devils.

While at Atlantic, Waters also ran track. During his junior season, he won two medals at the 2016 Florida Class 4A state championships, placing seventh in the 200-meter finals (22.24) and fifth in the 4×400 relay (3:19.66).

Waters did not run his senior season after early-enrolling at Duke.

After arriving at Duke, Waters permanently switched positions from running back to safety.
He said that the biggest reason for the position change was:

“Look at the longevity of the position (safety). I love to hit someone every play. I didn’t want to get hit every play.”

This position change definitely paid off. During his three seasons as a Blue Devil, Waters recorded:

    •    234 tackles
    •    13.0 tackles for a loss
    •    3 interceptions
    •    1 fumble recovery
    •    18 pass breakups
    •    7 quarterback hurries
    •    1 blocked field goal

Going into the 2021 season, Waters announced that he would be entering the transfer portal. After a few days, he committed to Texas Tech to play his senior season.

When asked about this choice, Waters said: “Duke did right by me my entire career. The reason I transferred and chose Texas Tech is I wanted to go somewhere where I could showcase more coverage. The Big 12 certainly filled that role.”

Waters played two seasons as a Red Raider.

During his time at Texas Tech, he recorded:

    •    69 tackles
    •    14 tackles for loss
    •    1 sack
    •    3 pass deflections
    •    2 interceptions
    •    1 interception returned for a touchdown

Throughout this NFL Draft evaluation process, Waters has been described by analysts and scouts as the following:

“One of the top defensive backs in the country in stopping the run game.”

“Waters is an underrated run-defending safety who is best making plays downhill or in the box.”

“He shows suddenness and flies around the action. Fires upfield to defend the run or screen plays. Slides off blocks, displays a good head for the ball, and immediately locates the action. Wraps up tackling nicely.”

Waters plans to spend the 2023 NFL Draft with multiple other prospects, celebrating this special moment with their close friends and family.

All of us at New Era Prep are excited and anxiously waiting to see which team will send him the phone call.