College football has a new heaviest player for the 2026 season – and he has fought an unlikely journey to reach the highest level.
David Jones has transferred to Mississippi Valley State as a senior, where he will line up on the Delta Devils defensive line. Affectionately known as ‘Big Dave’, the 6ft tall player is officially listed at 425 pounds on the team’s official website.
And he has already been compared to NFL icon William ‘Refrigerator’ Perry after he scored three touchdowns being used as a goal line back at his previous school.
The Augusta, Georgia native played offensive guard and defensive tackle at Hephzibah High School was named a First Team All-Region player as a senior in 2021.
But after the ripple effects of COVID with packed rosters and limited spots as players stayed in school, he ended up at a club program playing against junior college teams in a bid to find his next opportunity.
When scholarship opportunities fell through with coaches retiring, he went back home and was working a 9-to-5 job with UPS. Yet still he refused to let his dream die.
David Jones committed to head to Mississippi Valley State ahea dof the 2026 football season
Jones, No.90, is in camp and ready for his first season with his new team
‘Every Sunday, [we] emailed every coach starting from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,’ Jones told HBCU Gameday. ‘All the way from D1 to D3… and we did that every day consistently.’
His film included clips of him being used on offense as a running back.
‘I put little gems in my highlight tape to see if my coach actually even watch it,’ Jones said. ‘Like I put some of my running plays in the middle of the highlight.’
In the end, Livingstone College assistant coach Mark Williams noticed, and the big man landed in North Carolina.
‘At the end of his film, man, he had like two or three clips of him running the ball,’ Williams said. ‘Some coaches… might look at that and see, ‘Man, this joker 6-2, 6-3, 360 pounds — why is he running the ball like Refrigerator Perry?’ But you never know when you may need to use that skill set.’
Jones eventually scored three rushing touchdowns last year. They generated attention on social media, and he’s now made the move to a Division 1 (I-AA) program in Mississippi Valley State, leaving Livingstone behind.
‘This will be my third school I’m going to,’ he told HBCU Gameday. ‘All I know is, okay, Dave, you gotta go bet on yourself.
‘I’m just trying to really go feed my family. Football, really a business right now.’
While Jones was listed at 350 pounds at Livingstone, his new school now lists him at 425 pounds, and shared a promotional photo of him in his new uniform holding a sledgehammer.
The SWAC team begins their season on Thursday against Nicholls State. They will play at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, in Week 3 in the Chicago Football Classic against Lincoln.
David Jones has left CIAA football for a Division 1 school after transferring in the offseason
Jones is now listed as the heaviest player in college football at over 400 pounds
Desmond Watson was previously the heaviest player in college football at the University of Florida, weighing 449 pounds at his Pro Day before becoming the heaviest player in NFL history when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But after being put on a conditioning plan and being forced to practice alone, he was eventually released without ever playing a game.
‘The door is not closed on him, but if you don’t practice, you’re probably not going to make this team,’ Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said at the time.
‘We’ll see where we are in a couple weeks and we’ll circle back and we’ll go from there. We’re in the last week of camp. If you’re not practicing, you’re not going to play. He’s been working hard, we had a good talk, and we’ll circle back and see where he’s at.’
Watson himself said during last year’s camp: ‘I feel like my name is etched in history, of course, as being the official heaviest player in the NFL or whatnot.
‘It’s a good story, but at the same time I don’t want that to be my narrative. I want to be known as a football player – and a good football player at that.’
After he was released, Watson’s agent told AP: ‘He’s still working. Job’s not finished.’
But after being signed then released by the DC Defenders of the XFL, he has remained without a team and not appeared on a NFL roster this training camp.
