With Arthur Smith joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the questions heading into training camp and the season is whether the team would use a fullback after not having one on the roster in 2023. In Smith’s previous two stops as the Titans’ offensive coordinator and the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach, he used the fullback as part of his offense. The Steelers have Jack Colletto on their roster, signed to a futures deal back in January. While he’s gotten some run during camp, Smith didn’t commit to using a fullback in Pittsburgh and said fullback usage is part of the “big picture.”
“You don’t live in fullback, I-formation, offset, but the advantage you have up. But guys also have to help at other spots,” Smith said via Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “So that is where a little bit where you see the big picture coming up here, the experience, so it’s important. We had a very good special teams player in Atlanta, [Keith] Smith, so that was a valuable member of the roster. He was a core teamer, and he was a good fullback. He gave you an advantage, but you’re just trying to find that out. There may be some weeks, just like we were talking about you may want to have both the tight ends. You may want to have a fullback if it gives you an advantage, but it’s also gotta play into the big picture.”
For Colletto to make Pittsburgh’s roster, he’s going to have to prove his value as a special teamer. That will likely go for any fullback who plays under Smith. Both Khari Blasingame, who he had in Tennessee, and Keith Smith in Atlanta were contributors on special teams. For a position that’s been used less and less in recent years, to keep a spot on the 53-man roster as a fullback, showing value in other areas is going to be important.
With the new kickoff rules, having someone who can be an asset as a blocker on teams like a fullback might be useful for a team. Mike Tomlin talked about the different way teams can attack the kickoff rule while working with Madden developers on the rule. If Danny Smith and Tomlin think someone like Colletto can add value, there could be a spot for him on the roster.
But just being a fullback who only plays offensive snaps won’t earn someone a roster spot, and while Smith has used a fullback, it’s never been a player who was just a fullback. Hence why it has to go back to the big picture of someone who can help the team in a variety of ways when it comes to rostering a fullback.
Having one on the roster can give a run-heavy team like the Steelers project to be an advantage, but the team could also just use an additional tight end to block, too. That’s why it’ll be important for Colletto to show his value on special teams if he wants to earn a roster spot and a gameday role. We’ll see if that happens as training camp and the preseason continue the rest of August.
