Mark Madden's Hot Take: Steelers trying Kendrick Green at fullback is showbiz

Ben Roethlisberger is a good podcaster. He tells the truth. He can’t help himself.

This statement by Roethlisberger drips with veracity:

“I love Kendrick Green. He was a great guy, good teammate, loved him. He was my center my last year. They drafted that guy to be my center.

“Last year, he didn’t even dress. Now they have him playing a little fullback. It’s funny that’s the guy they got for me.”

Roethlisberger’s disdain comes from the Steelers wasting a third-round pick when he was still playing and could have used more help.

Trying Green at fullback is just plain stupid. Showbiz on Mike Tomlin’s part.

Green is 50-50 to make the team, maybe worse. If he does, he won’t usually get a helmet on game day. Odds are that he won’t ever play fullback in a regular-season game.

The Steelers had Derek Watt last season. He’s a legitimate fullback, and he barely got on the field. Then they didn’t bring him back. Watt played special teams. Green doesn’t, not beyond place-kicks.

Green didn’t play any fullback in Friday’s exhibition opener at Tampa Bay. But he didn’t help his cause any by botching a snap and committing a penalty while playing center.

The fullback “experiment” with Green has people talking.

But it’s dumb. It’s at the top of a long list of things occurring during the Steelers’ preseason that don’t matter.

All that matters is Kenny Pickett. The Steelers will improve as much as he does, or is allowed to. Everything else is blah, blah, blah.

Green at fullback isn’t even good talk-show fodder. I can’t bring myself to do anything but ridicule it.

We keep hearing about the Steelers’ 12 formation, 13 formation, 22 formation, all these different power formations that involve multiple backs and tight ends.

But the Steelers don’t need Green to do any of that. They got Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Zach Gentry, Connor Heyward, no shortage of legit people to fill those jobs.

Anyway, that kind of football won’t beat the good teams. Just the bad teams. The Steelers need to put up more than 30 points once in awhile. They never did that last year. Score fast and more.