You know Pickens and Darnell, Calvin and Williams. Pat and Ben and Scotty and Warren.
But do you recall, the forgotten Steeler of them all?
Ok, I tried my best to get in the Christmas spirit. Almost all of Mike Tomlin’s Reindeer have gotten involved in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ passing game the last two weeks. Twelve different eligibles have caught at least one pass. Everyone from stars like George Pickens to reserve wideouts replacing him like Scotty Miller. All the receivers have hauled in passes. Ditto with the running backs: Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson.
The only man who hasn’t is TE Connor Heyward. In fact, he’s caught only four all season and none since Week 6. Despite dressing weekly and seeing a fair amount of offensive playing time and double-digit snaps in three of the last five weeks, he’s yet to register in the passing game.
In 2023, Heyward caught 23 passes as he helped replace an injured Pat Freiermuth. Theoretically, playing under Arthur Smith would increase his chances even more in a tight end-heavy system that rosters and plays four of them. But Heyward’s been quiet for most of the year. His loudest game came in Week 5’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys, narrowly missing out on a huge downfield catch on a well-timed ‘leak’ play, getting him free down the left sideline. He made up for it with his first and only touchdown of the season later in the night, a 16-yard score.
Since then, he has just one target, a 4-yard reception against the Las Vegas Raiders the following week.
Why the change? Top-two tight ends Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington have stayed healthy all season. Washington has gotten more involved in the passing game and is catching the boots and play-action passes Heyward received in his first two NFL seasons. Heyward also isn’t the in-line blocker Washington and MyCole Pruitt are, limiting his role and flexibility. He’s mostly used on Y-off formations and split zone calls. To his credit, he did a nice job with a pair of cut blocks in Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, including on RB Najee Harris’ 1-yard plunge.
You have to wonder how and where Connor Heyward fits into the offense. He is an undersized tight end not involved in the passing game and limited as a run blocker. Pittsburgh occasionally puts him in the backfield as a fullback, but he’s not a true lead blocker. And gone are the days of him working as a short-yardage back or selecting third down work when Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson can all be used in that role.
Heyward does bring value to special teams, often logging two-thirds of the team’s snaps there and having four total tackles on the season.
Even if and when Connor Heyward catches his next pass, he won’t be a large part of the Steelers’ aerial attack. But to truly say everyone on this roster has gotten involved in the passing game, Heyward needs to get his hands on one.
