Pittsburgh Steelers select Ryan Watts in sixth round of 2024 NFL Draft
Fresh off its College Football Playoff appearance under third-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, Texas is having a nice weekend at the 2024 NFL Draft. Cornerback Ryan Watts is the latest to be picked, with the Pittsburgh Steelers taking him in the sixth round with the No. 195 overall pick.
Watts was a four-year player in college but did not spend his entire career in Austin. Ohio State won his recruitment coming out of high school but after two seasons, he entered the NCAA transfer portal to play for the Longhorns.
Defensive backs coach Terry Joseph instantly implemented Watts into the starting lineup, getting 23 starts in 24 games. Watts recorded 38 tackles and three pass breakups during the 2023 season, with one coming against Alabama during Texas’ historic win in Tuscaloosa.
There was an injury Watts dealt with during the season. He missed the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma, being a key loss in what turned out to be the lone 2024 regular season loss.
Watts played high school football at Little Elm (TX) High School, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 188 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Ryan Watts
NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein gave his evaluation of Watts heading into the draft, completely disregarding him as a cornerback. He believes there is value in playing safety at the next level, citing his lack of quickness and inability to succeed in man coverage at the next level.
Impressing while in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine certainly helped too, most likely getting his name called in Detroit instead of falling into the UDFA territory in Zierlein’s eyes.
“Based purely on the cornerback tape, it would be easy to dismiss Watts as an NFL prospect, but once we fit the pieces together and project him as a safety, it changes the evaluation,” Zierlein said. “Watts simply doesn’t have the quickness and agility to stay at cornerback with much success in man coverage. However, he’s already built like a safety and possesses tremendous length with a willingness to lean into the aggression for the position change.
“Watts’ measurables and demeanor will work in his favor, but his impressive NFL Scouting Combine testing should create additional push for his draft stock and chances of becoming a backup safety with core special teams value.”