Insider Believes It's "Premature" For Steelers To Plan For Future Of Injured 2024 Draft Pick

A lot has been discussed regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers' dire need for help on the offensive side of the ball. The two positions being highlighted early in the 2025 offseason are quarterback and wide receiver. When switching over to the defensive side, the biggest weakness currently is on the line, but the secondary hasn't been talked about nearly enough. Joey Porter Jr. will be the top cornerback, but it is questionable pretty much everywhere else, even for Minkah Fitzpatrick, as the veteran doesn't seem to be living up to his contract on the field.

When diving into the Steelers' secondary for 2025, Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott will return from a safeties perspective, but Damontae Kazee is set to enter free agency. Another piece to the puzzle is 2024 sixth-round pick Ryan Watts. The University of Texas product provided some spark in his first professional preseason, but suffered a scary neck injury that required surgery.

If Watts is unable to play in the near future, the Steelers will have a lot of work to do in the offseason to shore up the position. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo hosted a fan chat on Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine shortly after the media spoke to General Manager Omar Khan. The initial prognosis regarding Watts' availability was not promising. 

"Omar Khan was asked about [Watts] this morning," Fittipaldo wrote. "He said he was disappointed the injury occurred and acknowledged it was a serious injury. I didn't get the idea Watts was cleared to do football activities yet, so it's probably premature to talk about future plans. If he does get cleared I'm thinking strong safety. That's where he was before the injury."

The injury to Watts occurred during the team's final preseason game in late August. The fact that the safety has yet to be knowingly cleared is certainly concerning, and could affect the team's offseason plans. While relying on a sixth-round pick to contribute might be looked at as being too optimistic, that would be the case even more so for one coming off a serious neck surgery.

Fittipaldo stating that it is too early to plan for Watts' future certainly means that there are questions regarding his future status as a player at the professional level. With very little news coming out about the safety, it is hard to tell what his recovery timeline looks like. After a good training camp in 2024, Watts seemed poised to get some time on the field during the regular season, but that was not able to happen due to him being placed on Injured Reserve.

Watts needs to worry about his health first, especially with the surgery on his neck coming after the 2024 season came to a close. It may be a while before he is able to participate in full-contact drills with the rest of the secondary. It's also possible that he steps away from the game altogether depending on the risk associating with playing football moving forward.

Steelers Have Plethora Of Holes To Fix During 2025 Offseason

There are several areas where Pittsburgh needs to improve if the goal is to be competitive beyond a Wild Card loss moving forward. While the quarterback, wide receiver and defensive line positions are going to be talked about the most, the injury to Watts and uncertainty about his future provides a new challenge when taking a look at the team's safety depth chart.

Do you think the Steelers will have Watts healthy and ready to play in 2025? Let us know in the comments below!

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