The Pittsburgh Steelers have released rookie EDGE Julius Welschof from injured reserve with an injury settlement, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson via the league’s transaction sheet.
Welschof suffered a knee injury in the preseason finale to spoil an otherwise strong summer. It appears he was injured chasing down a play late in the game, hobbling at the end and subbed out the following snap.
The Steelers never disclosed the extent of the injury, sending Welschof to long-term IR during Tuesday’s cutdown to 53. The fact that there’s an injury settlement signifies the injury isn’t incredibly serious that would take months to recover from. And perhaps this decision was done with the intent of being able to sign him back later this season, though that would be several weeks away.
Undrafted out of Charlotte, Welschof was the Steelers’ International Exempt Player and didn’t count against the team’s offseason 90-man roster. Born and growing up in Germany, he began playing football around high school and got on college radars. He spent four years at Michigan before transferring to Charlotte for 2023, a shoulder injury ending his season four games into the year.
With rare height at over 6-6, Welschof was durable and available until his knee injury, practicing every day and finishing second on the team with 140 total preseason snaps. He also found his way to the quarterback, picking up three sacks in the preseason. Our camp report noted solid run defense though his pass rush wasn’t as effective.
“Welschof uses his hands well to beat blocks against the run and made plays in those sessions. There were some impressive moments. And he earned his first sack at the end of the Bills’ game, not fooled on a bootleg that he took down in open grass. Teammates were pumped for him, hard working paying off for a really cool moment.
But as Josh Carney pointed out in his scouting report months ago, Welschof offers little as a pass rusher. He’s tall and tight with little flexibility to turn the edge. And he’s fighting his height and leverage to get into the chest of the tackle and create power. Welschof loved using his spin move. It didn’t love him back.”
Welschof did well to finish plays and pick up those three sacks, but one came off a stunt while another came off a bootleg, a free rush that he cleaned up.
With Welschof off IR, the Steelers have only five players on IR. OT Dylan Cook and EDGE Jeremiah Moon, both designated to return along with OLB David Perales, C Nate Herbig, and rookie S Ryan Watts. Perales injured his knee early in camp, Herbig is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff while Watts is out with a neck injury suffered in the preseason finale. ILB Cole Holcomb is on Reserve/PUP while recovering from a serious 2023 knee injury.
