Ryan Watts is the youngest player at Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp. Born more than seven years before him is a player — on some level — against whom he is battling for a roster spot.
Cornerback Anthony Averett will turn 30 this fall. He is part of the build-up to an NFL season for a seventh time.
Despite the 51 regular-season games, 27 starts and 114 tackles on his résumé, Averett isn’t above working out with players several years his junior, most of whom have never taken part in an NFL practice (nor will ever suit up for an NFL game).
“All I know is they called, they are giving me an opportunity,” Averett said of the Steelers, “and I couldn’t wait, man. I couldn’t wait to get out here.”
Averett is by far the oldest player at Steelers rookie minicamp this weekend. A 2018 draft pick of the rival Baltimore Ravens, Averett was an every-down outside cornerback as recently as 2021. But he last appeared in a game in 2022 for the Las Vegas Raiders and in 2023 bounced around largely because of multiple injuries.
He is looking to revive his career in Pittsburgh for a team that is thin at cornerback.
“I feel like teams were scared away just to touch me a little bit (because of injury), But, hey, Pittsburgh is not,” Averett said after Saturday’s walk-through-style practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I am here, I’m healthy and I’m ready to go.
“I am here to show it. That’s the point.”
Averett, a 5-foot-11, 183-pound two-time national champion at Alabama, spent a week as part of the San Francisco 49ers training camp last year but quickly landed on injured reserve. A month-long stint on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad followed.
If he proves healthy, Averett could end up with an opportunity to earn a spot during organized team activities and training camp.
“I mean, I didn’t really expect to be here (at a rookie camp) my seventh year in,” Averett said. “But, hey, life takes you different places.”
Veteran RB attendee
Because he entered the league during a 2020 calendar year that should be forgettable for us all, Jonathan Ward was robbed of the experience of attending an NFL rookie minicamp.
Until now.
Ward, now a 26-year-old, four-year veteran running back, is also at Steelers rookie camp as a tryout.
“I guess I finally get my minicamp since I didn’t get one in 2020 due to covid,” Ward said with a smile Saturday. “First one, so, yeah, so I guess it’s a blessing.”
Ward has appeared in 42 NFL regular-season games, including 32 with the Arizona Cardinals and 10 over the past six months with the Tennessee Titans.
What has stood out during his brief introduction to the Steelers?
“The weather,” Ward said, laughing, while standing in light drizzle on a chilly early-May afternoon. “Definitely. You’ve got all four seasons in one day. So that’s different, coming from AZ and Tennessee.”
Climate aside, Ward could have an opportunity to make initially the Steelers’ 90-man camp roster and an outside shot to stick come the regular season as a special-teamer who can line up at fullback, H-back, out of the slot and even depth tailback.
In his brief time with the Steelers and among players several years his junior in age an experience, Ward appears to be making an impression. Video taken during the period open to media recording showed running backs coach Eddie Faulkner complimenting Ward on his blocking prowess.
“He said I’ve got ‘old-man’ hands,” Ward said. “I guess that’s good, being the old guy in the room. Guess I wouldn’t want to have ‘young-guy’ hands.”
The 5-11, 195-pound Ward will await word after rookie camp concludes Sunday on if he will be signed and asked to return the following week when organized team activities begin.
2 sign
Two more draft picks officially put pen to paper in signing their standard four-year rookie contracts Saturday. Third-round wide receiver Roman Wilson and sixth-round defensive back Watts each were announced as being signed. Wilson was taken 84th overall out of Michigan, and Watts, a Texas product, was the Steelers’ final pick (No. 195 overall).
Friday, picks from the fourth round (guard Mason McCormick) and earlier in the sixth (defensive lineman Logan Lee) signed contracts. That leaves only Troy Fautanu, second-round center Zach Frazier and third-round linebacker Payton Wilson as yet to sign.
That is considered a formality because rookie salaries are slotted as per terms of the NFL/NFLPA collective bargaining agreemen
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