Major waves were made when the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they had completed one of the biggest trades in recent NFL history. They sent away former All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick in exchange for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith.
While Ramsey has, understandably, garnered most of the attention in this deal, I think the best overall fit from either team is Smith now joining this offense. Simply put, he is in the perfect storm to build off his best season as a pro.
However, his addition makes the odds of former draft pick Connor Heyward sticking around seem slim to none. While he looked like a potential gadget player early in his career, he has bottomed out on offense and lacks a clear role outside of special teams.
A hybrid player in school, Heyward needed the right scheme to thrive in the NFL. The Steelers never gave him that. He flashed as a receiver, but his lack of size made him a hard player to build around.
Jonnu Smith could be the dagger for Connor Heyward’s Pittsburgh Steelers career
I thought that Connor Heyward was set to have a career season last year under Arthur Smith. Fullback had always felt like a more natural home for Heyward, and Smith loves employing a traditional lead blocker.
When given the opportunity, though, Heyward never lived up to the hype. By the middle of the season, he was getting out-snapped by a decrepit MyCole Pruitt.
This offseason has seen the Steelers try to find a firmer replacement. They tried to sign Kyle Juszczyk, and after that failed, they spent notable money on undrafted free agent D.J. Thomas-Jones.
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Smith is the more definitive upgrade, though. While he will wear a lot of hats, it seems like he will take on that versatile role and absorb the fullback duties for this team. Heyward hasn’t been able to function as a traditional inline tight end, so his role is special teams or bust.
He certainly can make it as just a special teams player, but he needs to shine there. With so many other intriguing battles elsewhere, Heyward’s spot is hard to justify. He had a shot to shine last year, but now it seems like he has missed the bus.
Smith figures to be a fun and effective addition to this offense as a tight end, receiver, and fullback. His addition puts another nail in the coffin for Heyward’s time in Pittsburgh. Unless he really takes some steps forward on offense or becomes uncuttable on special teams, his path to the roster is hard to figure out.