The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Who will take Derek Watt’s roster spot?
The Steelers are in a somewhat interesting position this year. For the first time in a while, they don’t have a true fullback on the roster. Even more conservative interpretations of the position would have to acknowledge that the team had a true fullback since at least 2015 with Roosevelt Nix, who was with the team until 2019, after which Watt was signed.
So how will the Steelers use that fullback position, now that it’s no longer occupied? Is it simply a matter of carrying both Connor Heyward as a fullback-capable player and Zach Gentry? Could they use it on another position entirely?
The team shouldn’t, and surely won’t, commit itself to any sort of positional figure rules at this time. Training camp and the preseason will decide how best to use that roster spot, and we can’t even rule out the possibility of Monte Pottebaum, the rookie fullback, actually making the roster and continuing the employment of a true fullback.
The Steelers can still carry four tight ends (including Heyward) and use that roster spot elsewhere. After all, they have carried four tight ends before, and they have also carried four running backs, as recently as the 2021 season, with Watt.
One can argue it’s a ‘good’ problem to have, though that really hinges on two things: 1) how much use they want to get out of the fullback role and 2) whether or not they can get quality production from it out of whoever occupies the role (presumably Heyward).
Pittsburgh has had a tendency in recent years to go heavy along the defensive line. Not having a true fullback would make it easier to carry seven linemen, which is a distinct possibility with the depth they are looking to bring into training camp.
