There were a lot of great things that came out of the second half of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 NFL season. The way quarterback Kenny Pickett took control of the offense late in games and the return of the power run game just to name two. But maybe the most under-the-radar surprise was how well then-rookie tight end Connor Heyward played down the stretch.
Heyward was used sparingly during the season, spending most of his time working on special teams. And even down the stretch, Heyward didn’t play significant snaps. For the season he played about 15 percent of the offensive snaps and went largely unnoticed. However, in the final games of the season, Heyward hauled in a handful of remarkable catches that didn’t seem possible for a man just six feet tall and around 230 pounds.
Nevertheless, Heyward has arrived. He is clearly a weapon on offense and the team needs to find ways to use him in the upcoming season. This complicates this for Zach Gentry. Gentry is an unrestricted free agent, and frankly an improving player. but even with his size, he hasn’t shown he can do in the passing game what Heyward can.
This leaves the team in a predicament since the team can only play so many tight ends. Will the Steelers just move on from Gentry and bring in a replacement, promoting Heyward or will they re-sign Gentry and try to make it work with three legitimate tight ends on gameday, never forgetting that Pat Freiermuth is the leader of this group? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
