The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL Draft class has been marred with injury. When you consider the draft class, the one consistent with the majority of the class has been sustained injuries.

1st Round: Troy Fautanu 

Landed on Injured Reserve (IR) after injuring his knee prior to the team’s Week 3 game. Never returned to the lineup.

2nd Round: Zach Frazier

Was the center for the majority of the season, outside of missing games around the bye week with a high ankle injury.

3rd Round: Roman Wilson

Wilson injured his ankle in the first padded practice of training camp, and dealt with ongoing, and nagging, injuries ever since. Eventually it was a hamstring injury which landed him on IR, which he was never activated from.

3rd Round: Payton Wilson

Wilson was the only rookie who didn’t miss any playing time in 2024, and he was the one with the biggest concern after his selection.

4th Round: Mason McCormick

McCormick was thrust into the starting lineup after James Daniels was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon and McCormick as viewed as an upgrade over Spencer Anderson. McCormick did miss the team’s Wild Card playoff game with a broken hand.

6th Round: Logan Lee

Lee essentially got a red-shirt season when he was placed on IR before the start of the season, and only had his 21-day window started in the waning weeks of the regular season.

6th Round: Ryan Watts

Watts was a player who most fans didn’t expect much out of, but he played well in the preseason making fans think he could be a depth piece in the 2024 secondary. A neck injury in the preseason finale vs. the Detroit Lions put his status for the season in jeopardy. Watts landed on IR after his “neck injury”, as Mike Tomlin labeled it after the game, and the injury turned out to be far more significant than anyone ever anticipated.

In fact, according to Watts’ social media accounts, he underwent surgery to address a “significant” neck injury. This per Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Steelers rookie sixth-rounder Ryan Watts sustained a significant, scary neck injury in the final preseason game. Looks like he got surgery recently after spending his entire first season on injured reserve. pic.twitter.com/ddQcNw9SyK

— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) January 25, 2025

When you see the significance of the injury, you have to ask questions about Watts’ future in the game of football. There are times like this when you hope a player is able to return to a stable state of life, and not so much his future within the organization. Football becomes secondary in this regard, and the hope is Watts is able to make a full recovery.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the offseason.