Is Connor Heyward one tight end too many for the Steelers and Arthur Smith, if there is such a thing? In theory, there is room for him on the roster, if we just go by last season. But with the strength of their top trio now, there is reason to question how strong his hold on a roster spot is.
And that’s exactly what ESPN’s Brooke Pryor did recently while appearing on 93.7 The Fan. Part of the reason, she says, is that new TE Jonnu Smith largely mirrors the versatility we associate with Heyward. “I think that Arthur Smith is in heaven right now. This is an Arthur Smith move. I think that he’s gonna be a Swiss Army knife type of weapon”, she said.
“He can do a little bit of everything—in some ways do the things that we’ve said Connor Heyward could do in terms of being a fullback, maybe being a receiver, being an undersized tight end”, Pryor continued. “I think that that is Jonnu Smith x 1,000. I think that he has a much, much higher ceiling than Connor Heyward. And I’d be a little bit nervous if I were in Connor Heyward’s shoes right now because there’s only so many roster spots”.
Last season, the Steelers did carry Heyward as one of four tight ends on their 53-man roster. Since then, they did not retain one: MyCole Pruitt. Jonnu Smith gives them a core four again, but he is very different from Pruitt. Whereas Pruitt is the type of player who does some dirty work, Smith rose to Pro Bowl-receiving level.
In his first season playing under Arthur Smith, Connor Heyward saw his snaps drop in half. While he played some more in 2023 due to Pat Freiermuth’s injury, he also earned more snaps from MyCole Pruitt’s injury last year.
Of course, where the Steelers really value Heyward is on special teams. Last season, he logged 303 snaps in that area. He registered eight tackles and recovered a fumble on a punt return in the regular-season finale.
But we won’t know if that is sufficient to retain his job until the Steelers sort their roster out. If they view his roster spot as one for special teams, that opens a wide variety of candidates. They drafted Connor Heyward for special teams, but that applies to many. This year, expect to see Jack Sawyer, Carson Bruener, and Donte Kent there, if they all make it.
In previous seasons, the Steelers had a theoretical role for Connor Heyward, but Pryor is right. There isn’t really anything he can do that Jonnu Smith isn’t just a better version of. If they feel comfortable replacing his special-teams snaps with other players, that opens the door to moving on from him.
