Steelers A to Z: After spending much of 2023 on practice squad, WR Duece Watts looking to take next step

Joe Rutter
Saturday, July 20, 2024 6:00 a.m. | Saturday, July 20, 2024 6:00 a.m.

Chaz Palla | TribLive

The Steelers’ Deuce Watts goes through drills in June at UPMC Rooney Sports Performance Complex. The Steelers’ Duece Watts goes through drills in June 2024 at UPMC Rooney Sports Performance Complex.

Editor’s note: From now until the first practice of training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2024 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 14 and July 25. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

WR Duece Watts

Experience/age: First year, no NFL experience/24

Contract status: $795,000 if he makes team in 2024

The past: Watts spent two seasons at Jones College, a community college in Mississippi where one of his teammates in 2018 was former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett. Watts then landed at Tulane for three seasons before he went undrafted in 2023.

Watts’ birth name is Natorian, and he has a twin brother Nataurean, who is known as “Phat” Watts.

Watts played in 37 games at Tulane, leading the team with 31 catches in the pandemic 2020 season. He totaled 21 and 29 receptions, respectively, over his final two college seasons, and he averaged 19.4 yards per catch as a senior.

Watts ran the 40-yard dash in 4.59 seconds at Tulane’s pro day, and he signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers after the draft. Watts was released in the roster cutdown in training camp, and the Steelers signed him to their practice squad on Sept. 20.

thanking God for the opportunity everyday???? pic.twitter.com/3qGYt8MbSG

— Duece Watts (@NatorianWatts) June 13, 2024

2024 outlook: The Steelers liked Watts enough to bring him back on a reserve/futures contract in January. He is among a handful of players with no NFL service time trying to earn a spot on the 53-man roster.

By adding several receivers with NFL experience, the Steelers have put more roadblocks in Watts’ path to earning a roster spot. That could lead to another spot on the practice squad so he can enhance his development.

The Steelers have 11 wide receivers on the offseason roster and figure to keep five to open the season.

Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.