The Pittsburgh Steelers entered this year’s draft with 12 total picks, and while they didn’t use all of them, they still selected 10 players. However, their final selection may have created the most buzz. The Steelers took Navy’s Eli Heidenreich with their final seventh-round pick. The Pittsburgh native was at the draft, so he got to share the moment in front of his hometown. Heidenreich is more than just a good story, though. He’s also a good football player, and ex-NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker sees shades of one of the NFL’s most dynamic players in his game.
“I want to be very clear, I’m not saying he’s as good as this guy, but when you watch him on a practice field, or even on a game field because I did several Navy games the last couple of years, he actually reminds you a little bit of Christian McCaffrey,” Tucker said Thursday on his YouTube channel. “I know that that’s a white guy to a white guy, and I get that.
“But I’m just saying, with McCaffrey sometimes, you’re like, could he be a slot receiver? And I think that might be where Heidenreich ends up. He’s that kind of player.”
Tucker may have outlined the blueprint for how the Steelers can use Heidenreich.
Heidenreich doesn’t have a defined position, with the Steelers listing him at running back and wide receiver. He has a lot of experience playing both positions, recording 169 carries and 109 catches in college. He’s a Swiss-Army knife.
McCaffrey is the gold standard for that kind of versatility in today’s NFL. He even rushed for 1,000 yards and posted 1,000 receiving yards in his third NFL season. Only two other running backs in NFL history have done that, and McCaffrey almost did it again last year, falling only 76 receiving yards short.
Is Heidenreich going to become the fourth running back ever to have 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving? That’s unlikely, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make an impact in both areas. Longtime NFL analyst Greg Cosell also had a lot of praise for Heidenreich during that same podcast.
“I love that kid,” Cosell said. “I’m so curious to see how he’s deployed. That guy’s a really good football player. He is so much fun to watch. I think there’s a place for that guy in the league.”
Most seventh-round picks find it hard to make NFL rosters as rookies. However, Heidenreich’s versatility could give him an edge. Mike McCarthy has had nothing but good things to say about the rookie.
McCarthy has worked with players similar to Heidenreich in the past, too. His Green Bay Packers selected wide receiver Ty Montgomery in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Montgomery moved to running back in his second year and proceeded to post 457 rushing yards and 348 receiving yards.
That might be a better framework for what Heidenreich could do. He might lack the extra gear to become McCaffrey, but there’s a chance he could produce like Montgomery did. First things first, he has to make the Steelers’ 53-man roster.
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