If Steelers rookie FB DJ Thomas-Jones doesn’t make the 53-man roster, he won’t be going down without a fight. A college free agent, he knows he has his work cut out for him, but he has the want-to to carve out a role for himself. Or so he hopes, for a team potentially looking for a true fullback.
“I want to be violent at all times”, Thomas-Jones told Steelers beat reporters Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “My willingness to get in there and do it — I want to be in the messiest situations that I possibly can be. There are a lot of guys on the team that came up with a category for me: I was first team all-violence. That’s my thing. I try to do everything that I can with a chip on my shoulder with the utmost aggression”.
That’s probably what a rookie undrafted free agent fullback ought to sound like, isn’t it? Right now, the Steelers don’t have a true fullback, occasionally using Connor Heyward in that role. Last year, they tried out Jack Colletto as an undrafted rookie. Thomas-Jones is the latest candidate to put the shoes on that haven’t been filled since Derek Watt.
At 6-2, 265 pounds, DJ Thomas-Jones definitely has some weight to throw around. Any fullback hopeful will need to contribute on special teams, and that will come in handy there. But he still has to make the 53-man roster first. And with shorter preseasons, that’s harder to do.
The Steelers have only returned three of the four tight ends from last year’s roster, including Heyward. They did not re-sign MyCole Pruitt, a longtime Arthur Smith staple. Thomas-Jones could potentially step into that void, having a similar frame as Pruitt.
While he is a bigger player, though, Thomas-Jones believes he moves well for his size. He told Carter that he has emphasized his flexibility. “Being able to maneuver in different uncomfortable situations, to put my hand in the dirt, still be my size, and go up with the best — I feel like that’s very important”.
Arthur Smith does like to use a fullback in his offense, more than most. They didn’t really get to utilize his scheme as completely as he might have hoped, recently admitting that he “pivoted”. But he also understands the realities of NFL roster building, having been a head coach himself. A fullback has to do more than just lead-block for 200 snaps. But Thomas-Jones believes he can do that and more.
During his college career, he caught 74 passes for 659 yards and 11 touchdowns. He played almost every conceivable skill position role for South Alabama, and is comfortable lining up at receiver. But Thomas-Jones’ number one job will be running down kick returners, most likely, if in the Black and Gold.
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