It was easy to see how a player like Ryan Watts could make a transition from cornerback to safety within the Steelers' defense. Watts bloomed into a 6-foot-3, 205-pound starter for Ohio State and Texas at the cornerback position in his four-year college career. The Steelers selected Watts in the sixth round of this April's draft and spent little time with transitioning him into a new role.
Watts confirmed to DK Pittsburgh Sports after Wednesday's OTA practice on the South Side that he has continued to reps at safety through these voluntary sessions. Given his size and athletic ability, the transition makes sense. For Watts, now, it's about making sure he can catch up to the speed that the position demands.
"Recently I've been doing more safety because it (requires) more mentally," Watts said. "You can really go from safety mentally -- learn the defense from a safety point of view and then being able to play corner since I've already been playing corner for four years. They're more worried about me being at safety learning new angles and everything, getting a sense of the play book because you've got to learn everything."
Watts was given the coveted "position flexibility" tag from Mike Tomlin after the draft wrapped up, so this move was always going to be a possibility. The Steelers have not drafted a safety since 2020, when they took Antoine Brooks, Jr. in the sixth round out of Maryland. That selection came two seasons after they took Terrell Edmunds in the first round.
Watts was not a safety in college, though, so this transition will have to begin from the ground-up. Watts considered the position a natural fit for him, but the way the position is played differs from how the cornerback position plays.
"I think the toughest part about being at safety is making those adjustments and being able to communicate," Watts said. "That was really natural for me, so I feel like being able to rep that even more and showing that confidence."
Watts said DeShon Elliott, a fellow Steelers newcomer and native of Texas, has taken him under his wing, and that Minkah Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee have been resourceful and helpful through his transition. Kazee believes Watts has the capability to play in the back end of the defense.
"I think it'll be a good transition for him because he's a big body, too," Kazee said. "So he's not a typical small type of guy. I feel like he could play any position he wanted to if he put his mind to it, so I think he'll be valuable over there, moving him around everywhere."
Injuries limited what the Steelers' defense was able to do in 2023. In addition to Cam Heyward's groin issue and the inside linebackers getting down to -- literally -- Amazon delivery drivers, Pokémon card salesmen and minor-league hockey team owners -- the safeties room lost Kazee to a suspension at the end of December and Keanu Neal missed half of the season with injury. Fitzpatrick was held out for seven games with injury concerns, as well, which gave him some limitations.
The position needed an injection of youth, and Watts is here for it.
"I think it's definitely been a good side of the game for me," Watts said. "I feel like I was already a smart player and you've really got to be a smart player at safety. Know everybody's job and make all the checks and there's an adjustment to the angles, so I feel like that's really natural for me and just being able to rep it more."
It's not a position that's totally new to Watts, however. He was recruited by former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and former defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs while playing safety in high school in Texas before Hafley transitioned him to cornerback. He was the No. 10-ranked safety in his class, per 247Sports, but found a home at cornerback opposite fellow four-star prospects Sevyn Banks and Denzel Burke in Columbus.
"I got the best of both worlds really because at the time Ohio State was in man coverage and three-deep zone and at Texas we were a quarters defense, so I've seen it all," Watts said. "And then going against some good receivers at both Ohio State and Texas and their offense's coaching schemes, too, with (Ohio State coach Ryan Day) and (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian)."
