With the signing of tight end MyCole Pruitt last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers suddenly have a bit of a numbers problem at that position. By that I mean, they have too many.
What we know for almost certain is that Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington will be on this roster sans injury. While Pruitt is a trusted and experienced tight end entering his 11th season, there are no guarantees he’s on this roster come September. Rodney Williams was impressive in his first season contributing nicely on Special Teams and proving he could handle his own as a blocker. He will almost assuredly be better this year and I expect him to give no ground in a fight for a spot on this team.
And then there’s Connor Heyward. If you think you’ve seen his name a little more this week in print and on social media that’s because you have. Steelers’ beat writers and even those at Steelers.com are almost going out of their way to justify Heyward being on this team. That’s nice and all but is there really a place for him regardless?
In two seasons, Heyward has largely made his calling on Special Teams. In 2022 he was in for 65% of the team’s snaps on STs while in 2023 that number went down to 55%. Offensively, he saw his numbers jump drastically from 15% to 38% between his rookie season and his second. The increase can be attributed somewhat to Pat Freiermuth’s injuries which cost him five games last season but even then Heyward’s offensive snaps dropped a bit after the midpoint of the season.
With Arthur Smith favoring the run and the use of multiple tight end sets, there may yet be a place for Heyward, albeit limited. I have a hard time seeing Heyward used as an in-line blocker. He just doesn’t possess the size and strength to handle defensive ends and edge rushers in man-up situations. Even when playing on a wing or when in motion Heyward struggles to beat bigger and more physical defenders. It’s not that the effort isn’t there, at 6’ 230lbs he’s just giving up too much in every battle.
There are a couple of other things that Heyward has going for him though. His brother carries a lot of influence and his head coach is a big fan of Connor both as a player and a person. You can dismiss those things but they carry weight, trust me.
Because Arthur Smith doesn’t really use a traditional fullback, I don’t see that as an option. While Heyward played it at Michigan State, doing it in the NFL is vastly different. That said, I can envision heavy sets where both Freiermuth and Washington are on the field and are joined by Heyward. He would likely be put in motion, positioned on a wing or even out wider. Smith could use him simply as a decoy or see how the defense responds to him and utilize him later.
There’s also the potential for Heyward to be used in multiple receiver sets as an underneath guy or as an outlet. This is an area he’s been utilized in the past but he could give way to quicker receivers as Smith overhauls the offense.
I believe there is a place for Heyward on this roster but there is no guarantee he makes it. The effort and dedication will be there but is he valuable enough to Danny Smith on Special Teams in order to keep him around? Until we get an idea of how he’s used on offense we likely won’t know but I can see it going either way.
