Could the Steelers actually use a fullback on their roster in 2024?
Perhaps.
While the number of fullbacks on NFL rosters has dwindled with more teams going with three wide receiver looks. In 2023, just 12 NFL teams employed a fullback on offense.
But new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's Falcons were one of those 12 teams that utilized a fullback, with Keith Smith playing 185 offensive snaps, or 16.5 percent of Atlanta's offensive snaps.
"If you've got a fullback that can help you and there's a big picture involved," Smith said. "You don't live in a fullback I-formation, offset. But, guys also have to help at other spots, so that is where you see the big picture coming from up here, the experience, so it's important. We had a very good special teams player in Atlanta in Keith Smith, so that was a valuable member of the roster. He was a core (special) teamer, and he was a good fullback and gave you the advantage."
The Steelers currently have just one true fullback, first-year player Jack Colletto, on their roster in training camp, but they also have Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt, a pair of tight ends who also have lined up in the backfield as lead blockers, on their roster.
Colletto played at Oregon State and signed with the 49ers as an undrafted rookie in 2023, though he did not make the team. He has been very active as a lead blocker in some of the short-yardage situations and inside run drills throughout training camp, but Pruitt, who was with Smith in both Atlanta and in his offensive coordinator days in Tennessee, also has gotten some snaps in this camp as a lead blocker, as well.
The Steelers didn't have a true fullback on their roster in 2023, utilizing Heyward in that role, though he's much more explosive as a pass catcher than he is a lead blocker.
They had Derek Watt on their roster in 2022, but he played just 77 (6 percent) of the offensive snaps in games in which he was active. Watt, however, was an extremely good special teams player.
So was Roosevelt Nix, the last Steelers fullback to play as high a percentage of snaps as Kevin Smith played in Atlanta last season. Nix played 181 snaps (16.4 percent) for the Steelers in 2017.
But, as Arthur Smith mentioned, there's more to being the fullback than simply playing as a lead blocker. Special teams play – particularly with the NFL's new kickoff rule in effect this season – will be very important.
"It may be some weeks just like we are talking about multiple tight ends, you might want to have fullback, if it gives you an advantage, but it also has to play into the big picture, and that's stuff (head coach) Mike (Tomlin) and (special teams coordinator) Danny (Smith) have to work out as you talk through as a staff."
• Even though Russell Wilson hasn't been participating in team drills since camp opened doesn't mean he hasn't gotten some additional work with receivers after practice.
Wilson hasn't been shy about grabbing different receivers and working with them once the regular practice ends.
He also has included running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren into the equation.
Following a team afternoon walkthrough earlier this week, Wilson grabbed Harris and Warren and they spent a good amount of time working on catching a variety of passes from the quarterback.
"The thing about Najee that's been really cool is his time that he wants to spend together, his time," Wilson said. "He and Jaylen came out here with me one night and went through walkthroughs and through plays with me, and that kind of time is really critical. That obsession with the game. That's the good part about being out here in Latrobe and just being in the mix of training camp and learning every day."
That dedication to his craft is something Tomlin appreciates about Wilson.
"This guy has been in the league for a long time, and his reputation precedes him in terms of his relationship with the game, his leadership skills, his willingness to work – all those things have been confirmed for me," Tomlin said. "It's a pleasure to work with him day to day. He's a football lover and a football junkie, and that's an asset to him and to us."
• With the Steelers not in pads the first four practices of training camp, those sessions here at Saint Vincent College were largely continuations of the offseason program.
Because of that, it's difficult to get a handle on anything of substance that's happening on the field. It's not quite football yet.
But a standout of those first few days was new punter Cameron Johnston.
From the look of things, he has a bunch of different things he can do with the football – including kicking it 70 yards in the air – and should be very effective.
"He's really good," said Danny Smith. "He's going to be a weapon for us."
The Steelers haven't had a true punting weapon in quite some time. The franchise's best punter in terms of net average for anyone who has kicked in more than 10 games is Bobby Joe Green, who averaged 45.7 yards per kick over 26 games in the 1960 and 1961 seasons.
Jordan Berry, the team's punter from 2015 through 2020, averaged 44.4 yards per kick, but also placed a robust 40 percent of his punts inside the opposing 20. That also is a team record for punters who have kicked in more than 10 games.
In his career with the Eagles and Texans, Johnston has averaged 47.3 yards per punt and has had 40.9 percent of his kicks downed inside the opposing 20, including a career-high 45.5 percent last season in Houston.
"Whatever Danny needs me to do, I'll do it," Johnston said. "You have the different kicks that you use depending on the situation."
• In the movie "Slapshot," Charlestown Chiefs goalie Dennis Lemieux has a hilarious scene at the beginning of the picture where he is explaining penalties to a reporter.
At one point, he says if a player commits some of the infractions he is describing, they head to the penalty box, where they "feel shame."
It's been the same thing for Steelers offensive linemen in this training camp.
In previous years, if an offensive lineman had a false start in camp, they would immediately be replaced on the field. New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has taken that a step further.
If a lineman false starts, he's not only replaced in the lineup, he has to run a lap around the field – a lap of shame.
"It's holding us accountable," said rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu. ""As high school as you might think it is, I don't want to run laps, so I'm going to try not to do that again."
The Steelers had the second-fewest false starts in the NFL last season as a team with just 12. And they didn't have an individual player with more than two false starts. The NFL leader was Tennessee offensive lineman Dillon Radunz with nine.
But with so many young offensive linemen on the team – the Steelers have selected five, including Fautanu, in the past two drafts – reinforcing those rules is probably necessary.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
• The Hall of Fame game kicked off the NFL preseason Thursday night, and you can bet there were more eyes than usual watching that game.
With the new NFL kickoff rules in effect, players and coaches alike are interested to see exactly what this will look like in games. And Thursday's game between the Texans and Bears was our first look.
"I'll definitely be watching," said Smith. "I know both of those special teams coaches and have a lot of respect for both of them. We all need to see what this is going to look like."
Players are interested in it for the same reason.
"There are a lot of unknowns, uncertainties," said Steelers linebacker Tyler Matakevich. "I know Thursday for the Hall of Fame game, a lot of guys are going to be watching, trying to figure out what the heck is going on out there."
