With Steelers minus a fullback, Connor Heyward ready to take on extra workload

One minute, Connor Heyward saw fullback Monte Pottebaum talking to general manager Omar Khan outside the locker room.

The next, Pottebaum was gone from the Saint Vincent campus, his NFL career over before he had a chance to wear pads.

Pottebaum’s sudden retirement from football — and the Pittsburgh Steelers — earlier this week caught Heyward off guard.

“We wondered if he got cut,” Heyward said. “Sometimes guys have purposes and priorities elsewhere, so you have to let him do what he wants to do and respect it.”

Pottebaum’s exit Sunday also lessened the competition for a role Heyward might end up filling. The Steelers signed a pair of running backs Monday, but neither Greg Bell nor John Lovett is considered a fullback, leaving the team without one heading into the second week of training camp.

Derek Watt, who was the team’s fullback the past three seasons, remains unsigned in free agency. He only played 7% of the offensive snaps in each of the past two years, so the Steelers could opt to take their chances with Heyward, the second-year tight end from Michigan State.

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“He’s one of the guys who has that in his resume,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He did both things in East Lansing. He’s done similar things for us, and it’s reasonable to expect that to continue to expand — provided he gives us the details that we expect.”

A running back before converting to tight end for his collegiate final season, Heyward took reps at fullback in offseason workouts, and he has chipped in there at training camp, even taking a handoff in team drills.

“I feel like I already was playing tight end, running back, fullback going into this year,” Heyward said. “Whatever coaches ask of me, I’m going to do. I’m comfortable with the fullback position.”

Tomlin talks about the importance of players making significant strides from their first to second seasons, and Heyward is looking to build on a year in which he played 15% of all offensive snaps and contributed 12 receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown, the scoring coming in his hometown Atlanta.

When the Steelers kicked off the first day of padded practice with a “backs-on-backers” blocking drill, Heyward took reps at tight end and in the backfield. That brought some varying challenges as he prepared to take on linebackers intent on getting past him to an invisible quarterback.

“I feel like you have to have the same mindset,” Heyward said. “You want to win and compete, but at the same time, coming from the running back position, you have to beat the guy and take some of the air out. If he’s 7 yards away, I’ve got to beat him 4 yards. Beat him over the line, get my feet set and have a good punch.

“Having punch is the same at the tight end position. You want to hit him in the chest plate, get your hand and lock on and mirror him. They go hand in hand, but a couple things are different.”

Last year, Heyward said he frequently was pitted against veteran Genard Avery. On Tuesday, he faced rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig for five repetitions — a matchup set up by Tomlin. Heyward, at times, struggled to stop Herbig.

“It was a really good competition, and I look forward to doing it against him for years to come,” Heyward said.