Eli Heidenreich
Eli Heidenreich
Can Eli Heidenreich make one final push to earn a spot on the 53-man roster?
Steelers HC Mike McCarthy made clear that the young players will be featured tonight, and Eli Heidenreich needs it more than most. A rookie seventh-round pick, he seems to be squarely outside of the roster bubble. While he made for a great draft story, that has been the most compelling thing about him so far.
That is partly because he hasn’t had a mountain of opportunities. In the Steelers’ last preseason game, Heidenreich earned just a pair of touches, rushing for 9 yards on 2 carries. That included a seven-yard run…though it came on 2nd and 20.
Right now, it’s not even obvious that the Steelers will carry three running backs on the 53-man roster. With Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle at the top of the depth chart and bigger needs elsewhere, it’s not inconceivable that they enter the season with just two. That number would not include rookie FB Riley Nowakowski, of course. But if Eli Heidenreich has anything to say about it, he absolutely needs to say it now.
And he isn’t the only one. Kaleb Johnson, Travis Homer, and Lew Nichols are all fighting for the same spot Heidenreich wants for himself. So far, nobody has really earned it. But Homer is closest, and that is because of the value he brings on special teams.
If he does make the roster, Eli Heidenreich will have to stand out in that area, too. As Mike McCarthy emphasized this week, the third running back has to be a four-down player. Thus far, they haven’t used Heidenreich as a return option.
In total, he has logged only six snaps on special teams, including five on the kick return unit and one on the kick coverage unit. If Heidenreich wants to make this roster, he’ll want double-digit special teams snaps tonight. And maybe a couple of tackles. That’s how a lot of guys have earned their roster spots at the end of the preseason in the past.
The Steelers have a long road ahead of them under Mike McCarthy, along with his cadre of quarterbacks.With seven consecutive postseason losses and no wins in nearly a decade, they are under fire for their repeated playoff failures. While we have seen many changes, none could dream of topping Mike Tomlin resigning.
We’re already out of training camp, with free agency and the draft already reshaping rosters. The Steelers, of course, are used to early offseason mode as a team thatloses by the middle of January all the time. Enjoy the ride, even the turbulence, because it’s the only way we know how to travel anymore.