Not only did the Pittsburgh Steelers make the decision to re-sign tight end Zach Gentry, they also added to the position through the 2023 NFL Draft, selecting Darnell Washington out of Georgia in the third round. With Pat Freiermuth at the top of the food chain, where does that leave second-year Connor Heyward?
Perhaps a little bit of everywhere. Though he has long been listed as a tight end-slash-fullback on the Steelers’ roster, the expectation is that the 2022 sixth-round pick will be asked to wear many hats this year.
That’s how Freiermuth sees it. “He is going to be a chess piece that we will use all over the field”, he recently told Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. Freiermuth will likely be in for a more refined role with more blocking being diverted away from him; the opposite will be true of Heyward, who will be expected to be able to do any number of things—which is precisely his mindset.
“Learn everything”, Heyward said. “Learn the whole offense so we can plug you in where we need you”, he added, listing off not just tight end and fullback but also running back—a position in which he has a background—as well as two-tight-end sets. He went out of his way to point out that he believes he can play the role of third-down back at the NFL level as well and can line up in empty sets as a pass catcher as well.
As a rookie a year ago, Heyward played in every game, though more often than not he was limited to 10 snaps or fewer offensively. He saw 174 offensive snaps in all, though he approached 300 on special teams and had nine tackles.
Offensively, he caught 12 passes for 151 yards, including a 45-yard catch-and-run, with one touchdown. He also got two rushing attempts for 27 yards, among them a 21-yard run that had the impact of effectively ending the game.
A Michigan State product, Heyward came into the league already having played multiple positions. He rushed for 825 yards there on 211 attempts and also caught 96 passes for another 711 yards, totaling 11 touchdowns. He even attempted a couple of passes, though I suspect that won’t be the plan in Pittsburgh for offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
“We’ve got him as a tight end, but the things he can do, the way we can move him around”, the aforementioned Canada said of Heyward during the 2023 NFL Draft, “maybe not calling him a fullback, but I think his skill set fits that role”.
Now, it’s one thing for a player like Heyward to be capable of doing any number of different things for an offense, and it’s another thing entirely to find ways and times to get him on the field. Outside of serving as a lead blocker out of the backfield, there aren’t many times he is going to be among the first choices to run the ball, catch a pass, or throw a block.
But the idea is that the fact he can do any of those things makes him a less predictable skill-position player. They can run heavy with him on the field, or they can change it up and slide him into the slot and have him go over the middle. That’s where the chess comes in, I suppose.
