Watson looking to claim final spot in Steelers’ backfield
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers’ situation at running back will get a whole lot less interesting by the end of this week.
Starter Le’Veon Bell is expected to report to the team Friday and sign his franchise tender offer of $12.12 million.
And NFL teams are required to trim their rosters from 90 to 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday, two days after the Steelers play their final preseason game Thursday night at Carolina.
Given that Pittsburgh has only kept four running backs, including fullback Roosevelt Nix, on their 53-man roster in recent years, there’s not a lot of time remaining for things to be settled.
Bell, an All-Pro player, will take one spot and Nix another. Third-round draft pick James Conner, who leads the team with 124 yards on 24 preseason carries, is all but assured of the third spot.
That leaves veterans Fitzgerald Toussaint and Knile Davis battling with youngsters Terrell Watson and Trey Williams for the final spot.
All have had their moments in the past or during this training camp, making this a tough call for head coach Mike Tomlin heading into the final preseason game.
“All of these guys are professionals working their tails off,” said Tomlin. “The big thing is what guys do with the opportunity given.”
Considering those factors in this preseason, Watson might have the inside track on the final spot given his performance thus far.
After rushing for a team-best 40 yards on eight carries and catching four passes for 42 yards in last Saturday’s 19-15 loss to Indianapolis, the 24-year-old former Azusa Pacific star working to try and make it with his fifth NFL team, might have his best chance yet.
“Every time I go out there, I’m hungry,” Watson said. “I want to make a statement and play my game when my number is called.”
For the 6-1, 240-pound Watson, that has been the case.
He always seems to fall forward, something that has caused Tomlin to take notice.
“He has a distinguishing trait. He’s a downhill runner and (has) displayed that consistently,” said Tomlin.
Tomlin has nicknamed him “Nightmare,” a tip of the hat to another former running back out of Azusa Pacific, Christian Okoye. Okoye, called the Nigerian Nightmare, set all of the rushing records at the school before running for nearly 5,000 yards in six seasons with Kansas City.
Watson broke all of Okoye’s records.
But that hasn’t led to a full-time job in the NFL.
He originally signed with Cincinnati after going undrafted, spending the 2015 season on the team’s practice squad. Cleveland signed him after that season and he made the 53-man roster coming out of training camp but was released two days later and signed to the practice squad.
The Browns released midseason and he spent a month on Denver’s practice squad before being signed to Philadelphia’s active roster at the end of last year.
Despite scoring his first NFL touchdown in the regular season finale against Dallas, Watson was released by the Eagles, opening the door for him to sign with Pittsburgh.
“This has been a great spot for me,” said Watson. “(Running backs coach James Saxon) is really big on teaching us how to run routes like a receiver and catch the ball. That has allowed me to really improve my overall game. I feel like I’m a much better back than I was earlier in my career.”
It was a career that almost never got off the ground.
Watson speaks with a pronounced lisp that impeded his learning process as a youngster. He was a special education student throughout much of middle school and into junior high because of it.
Those educational issues caused the recruiters to stay away, with Azusa Pacific, an NCAA Division II school in the Los Angeles, Calif., suburbs, being his only offer.
He’s used to fighting the odds to make it.
“I always have a chip on my shoulder being a D-II kid,” Watson said. “I want to go out there and make people not want to tackle me.”
After being off Monday, the Steelers will practice today at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex before flying to Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday. … Thursday’s game will be the 15th consecutive season the Steelers and Panthers have faced each other in the preseason.