Tag: Quez Watkins

Steelers sign Quez Watkins to practice squad

The Pittsburgh Steelers continue compiling their practice squad, adding a third wide receiver in Quez Watkins.

The compilation of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 practice squad has been painfully slow, but they added their eighth reserve on Friday with the signing of wide receiver Quez Watkins.

Watkins is the third receiver on Pittsburgh’s current practice squad, joining Brandon Johnson and Ben Skowronek. Given how thin the team is at the position, he likely won’t be the last.

The Steelers initially signed Watkins as a free agent in March, but he was released as part of the cutdown to 53 players. He logged two receptions on three targets for 34 yards and one carry for six yards during the preseason.

Watkins’ best season came in 2021 when he hauled in 43 receptions for 647 receiving yards as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1829636176942415922

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Botched plays cost Quez Watkins spot on Steelers roster

Watkins struggled in the preseason and faced plenty of competition to make the team.

According to NFL reporter Matt Lombardo, the Pittsburgh Steelers are releasing wide receiver Quez Watkins. The Steelers and all 32 NFL teams have until the end of business on Tuesday to get their initial rosters down to 53.

Given the depth issues the Steelers have wide receiver, we wondered if the mistakes Watkins made in the preseason would cost him an opportunity. Watkins struggled in games but was typically reported to redeem himself at practice.

With Watkins out, this gives Dez Fitzpatrick an excellent shot to make the 53-man roster. Normally the Steelers keep five receivers on the active roster but could opt for six this year.

If the Steelers keep six receivers this year our prediction would be George Pickens, Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Dez Fitzpatrick and Scotty Miller.

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Steelers vs Bills: Wide receiver the position to watch this week

The Steelers have some big decisions to make at wide receiver.

It’s been a quiet week on the Brandon Aiyuk front so for at least one more game the Pittsburgh Steelers will go into a game with their current group. This week the Steelers take on the Buffalo Bills and while there are several positional units to keep an eye on including quarterback and offensive line, wide receiver is where we are focused.

The return of quarterback Russell Wilson is great news for the Steelers wideouts. They will get plenty of snaps from Wilson and Justin Fields.

Van Jefferson has a death grip on the starting spot opposite George Pickens and there doesn’t seem to be any real competition on the roster.

With rookie Roman Wilson still injured, that third receiver spot is up for grabs and this is why we are paying attention. Calvin Austin is far from a lock to be the No. 3 receiver and frankly could find himself on the roster bubble after this week.

Last week was a nightmare for Quez Watkins but he followed it up with a strong week of practice and should get another chance. We also have Scotty Miller who has been a steady competitor throughout camp and the preseason and knows this system well.

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3 Steelers on the roster bubble after the loss to the Texans

Multiple Steelers played poorly enough vs the Texand they are on the roster bubble.

Friday night’s preseason loss to the Houston Texans did not go according to plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Texans had a one-game head start on the Steelers and it really showed.

There were a few excellent performances from guys like rookie linebacker Payton Wilson and backup running back Diajun Edwards but there were also several guys who did nothing to hold their spots on the roster.

Here are three guys who were bad enough they could find themselves on the roster bubble this week.

WR Quez Watkins

If you are not going to have any impact in the passing game, you have better not mess up two punts if you want to make the team. Quez Watkins was pretty awful against the Texans and might not make it to the start of the season.

C Nate Herbig

A pair of bad snaps when you are being pushed by rookie Zach Frazier is not how Nate Herbig wanted the night to go. Herbig had a miserable game while Frazier was rock solid. Herbig makes too much money to play so poorly.

S Damontae Kazee

Kazee is another guy making too much money and with too much competition around him to play as badly as he did. Kazee struggled and is facing stiff competition to stay on the team.

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Former Eagles WR Quez Watkins to sign with Steelers

Quez Watkins will exit the Philadelphia Eagles, but stay in-state after signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Quez Watkins era is over in Philadelphia, as the speedy wide receiver is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A 2020 sixth-round pick out of Southern Miss, Watkins played four seasons for the Eagles, logging 98 catches for 1,249 yards and six touchdowns.

His best season came in 2021, logging 43 catches for 647 yards and one touchdown.

Once thought of as a future building block at the wide receiver spot, Watkins has regressed since A.J. Brown arrived, and his production last season—15 catches and 142 receiving yards—signaled the end of his four-year stint in Philadelphia.

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Steelers signing WR Quez Watkins

Pittsburgh added another veteran wide receiver in free agency.

According to ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Pittsburgh Steelers are signing former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins. Watkins spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Eagles after being a sixth-round pick out of Southern Miss.

Watkins joins Van Jefferson as the two free-agent receivers the Steelers signed his offseason. Pittsburgh traded away starting wide receiver Diontae Johnson early in free agency to the Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson.

Watkins had his best season in 2020 when hauled in 43 receptions for 647 receiving yards. In his career, Watkins has 25 career starts. He figures to be in the fold for the Steelers slot receiver spot after the team released Allen Robinson II.

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A look back at Eagles 2023 NFL free agent class

With 2024 NFL free agency set to begin in less than two weeks, we’re looking back at the Philadelphia Eagles 2023 free agent class

Coming off of their Super Bowl LVII loss to the Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles lost several starting players to free agency — C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Marcus Epps, T.J. Edwards, and Kyzir White.

Howie Roseman helped alleviate some of that loss by adding six veterans on one-year deals to help the Eagles return to the postseason in 2023.

Philadelphia started 10-1, before losing six of their final seven games including a wild card loss to the Buccaneers.

One big reason for the collapse was the lack of production from each of those veteran additions.

Kansas City repeated as Super Bowl champions, and with all the attention now focused on 2024 NFL free agency, we’re looking back at the 2023 class.

7 key free agents who may be playing their final game with Eagles

We’re looking at seven key free agents who could be playing their final game for Philadelphia when the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Philadelphia is headed to Tampa for a Monday night playoff matchup against a nemesis they know too well from playoff years past.

The Bucs and Eagles have met five previous times, including Tampa Bay’s NFC Championship Game win in Philadelphia in 2002 to close out Veteran’s Stadium. The most recent postseason meeting came just two years ago, in 2021, in Jalen Hurts’ first road playoff start; Tampa won 31-15.

Howie Roseman has put together one of the top rosters in the NFL, but a loss could mean the final bow for 20+ unrestricted free agents who could look elsewhere for greener pastures or more playing time.

With kickoff a little over 32 hours away, we’re looking at seven key free agents who could be playing their final game in an Eagles uniform.

Giants safety Xavier McKinney picks off Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota in 29 seconds

The Eagles are circling the drain, and nothing summarizes it like Xavier McKinney picking off Jalen Hurts and Marcus Mariota in 29 seconds.

It does not appear that the Philadelphia Eagles are interested in winning the NFC East. It would have taken an Eagles win over the New York Giants and a Dallas Cowboys loss to the Washington Commanders (with other tie-breaking scenarios involved) for that to happen, but the brunt of it was that the Eagles needed to beat the Giants.

It’s 24-0 at the half… in the Giants’ favor, and the Eagles look ridiculous on both sides of the ball. They have 102 net yards to Big Blue’s 272, and this is against a Giants team that has been a non-starter on offense through most of the season. That’s how things are going on defense.

On offense, Jalen Hurts completed seven of 18 passes for 55 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 26.8 before giving way to backup Marcus Mariota, who threw one pass and had it intercepted.

Both picks were courtesy of Giants safety Xavier McKinney. The Hurts interception was an amazing effort on McKinney’s part, as he went all vertical on this deep sideline pass to Julio Jones.

That happened with 1:34 left in the first half. Then, with 1:05 left in the first half, McKinney got Mariota for the 29-second twofer.

Even if the Eagles lose, they’ll still be 11-6, so it’s tough to say that they’re an “unserious” team… but things are certainly trending that way.

National reaction to Eagles’ Dom DiSandro being banned from sidelines for rest of regular season

According to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press, Philadelphia Eagles Security Chiefs Dom DiSandro has been barred from being on the sidelines for rest of 2023 regular season

Dom DiSandro will remain a key figure for the Eagles on and off the field, but his role on the sidelines for games has been reduced for the remainder of the 2023 NFL season.

According to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press, Philadelphia’s security chief will remain banned from being on the sidelines after a thorogh investigation by the league.

DiSandro will still be allowed to travel with the team to Seattle for its Monday night game and he can perform all other work duties but he is not permitted on the sideline,the Associated Press reports.

According to Ian Rapoport, DiSandro can return to the sidelines during the playoffs.