West Virginia held their annual pro day on Monday and as expected, Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin were both on hand to observe it. While safety Karl Joseph was the main draw on Monday, he unfortunately still wasn’t able to participate in any of the drills as he’s still recovering from his knee surgery that took place back in October.
After Monday’s event ended, Joseph talked to the media and told them that while his recovery is currently right on track, he’s probably still going to be sidelined for the extended future.
“I’m on schedule — I think I’m ahead of schedule right now. Dr. Andrews said I’m ahead of schedule and I look good, so I’ll be ready by training camp,” Joseph told Matt Keller of BlueGoldNews.com.
While Joseph didn’t say whether or not he has a pre-draft visit currently set up with the Steelers, he certainly hinted that could be the case when asked about his Monday interactions with Tomlin.
It’s not a bad problem to have that a lot of teams are showing interest, trying to fly you out and stuff like that, to see what kind of person you are,” said Joseph. “So I’m enjoying it in that aspect.”
Despite him missing most of the 2015 season with his knee injury, Joseph said he’s confident that all of the tape he’s accumulated during his time at West Virginia will be enough when it comes to teams knowing he’s still worthy of being a first-round selection. In his 42 games played, Joseph registered 284 total tackles, 9 interceptions and 14 pass breakups in addition to forcing 8 fumbles.
The Steelers pre-draft visits will continue on this week so don’t be surprised if Joseph is brought to town in the next several days. He certainly is a solid player and even though he likely won’t be ready to fully participate in practices until later on in the summer, it shouldn’t prevent him from hearing his name called somewhere in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft.
“I think it’s possible, but it doesn’t matter if it’s second or third round. As long as I get an opportunity I’m going to do my best with it,” he said. “I’m a very coachable player. I can fit into any scheme.”
