The Pittsburgh Steelers held their first day of rookie minicamp earlier today, and one of their draft picks, DB Ryan Watts, was absent from the practice. It would appear he had a pretty good reason to miss the first day, as he was attending his graduation ceremony at the University of Texas. There was a short clip of him celebrating in his cap and gown prior to the commencement, shared by Cory Mose on X.
“Texas by day, Steeler by night,” the clip was captioned.
Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reposted the clip and stated that he missed the first day of minicamp. There are still two more days of the camp, and he will likely be in attendance for both Saturday and Sunday. Most of the Steelers’ draft picks were interviewed following the first day of practice on Friday, so he may talk about his graduation following practice tomorrow in one of the interview sessions.
Watts was the final selection that the Steelers made in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was selected at No. 195 overall in the sixth round. He fits in with what the Steelers have been doing in the secondary over the last two seasons with Joey Porter Jr. and Cory Trice Jr. both being tall, long and physical defensive backs. He measured in at the combine at 6027, 208 pounds, and had a 40 1/2-inch vertical jump to pair with his 4.50-second 40-yard dash time. He then had an astounding 81 3/4-inch wingspan at his Texas pro day which is incredibly long for a defensive back – nearly a full inch longer than Porter.
The Steelers signed two of their draft picks today to their rookie contracts in Mason McCormick and Logan Lee. They appear to be working in reverse order of the selections, so Ryan Watts likely would have signed his deal if he was present at the first day of the rookie minicamp. That should come sometime Saturday as he makes his way back to Pittsburgh for the rest of the camp.
