The Pittsburgh Steelers’ second week of training camp finally brought a real look at the special teams picture, and it came only after the pads went on. That mattered, because head coach Mike McCarthy has been running a camp built on detail, heavy rotation and a limited menu of plays and formations, which has made the roster battle tough to read early on.
The first-team special teams units didn’t show up until the second day of padded work, when the Steelers got into kick returns. That’s when recent draft picks Kaden Wetjen and Eli Heidenreich stepped in as the first-team kick returners, a development that said plenty about both players. Wetjen’s role helped clarify why Pittsburgh brought him in, while Heidenreich’s usage made his route to the 53-man roster much easier to see.
McCarthy has been clear about what he wants from the back end of the roster: versatility, depth and players who can handle more than one job. He brought that same standard up again when talking about his running backs, with Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle at the top of the depth chart. Those two give him options on any down or in any situation, and he expects the same kind of value from the players behind them.
That’s where Heidenreich comes in. If he’s going to stick as the third or fourth back, he has to contribute on special teams, too.
Until he got work with the first-team kick returners, he hadn’t really had the chance to show that part of his game. Now he’s in position to do exactly that, while also offering a change-of-pace option behind Dowdle and Warren.
Wetjen, meanwhile, has started to separate himself once the pads came on. Training camp can be a tough place for a return man to stand out, but the fourth-round pick has looked the part in padded practice. His selection raised some eyebrows, but when the ball gets in his hands, it’s easy to see what McCarthy likes about the former Iowa standout.
Wetjen plays with obvious burst. He changes direction sharply, cuts with conviction and leaves defenders behind him. Even with only a few days of padded work in the books, his speed has already translated cleanly to the NFL level.
For the Steelers, the early returns from Wetjen and Heidenreich are starting to matter. Both are getting chances now, and both are flashing enough to make their cases. For Heidenreich in particular, the door to the roster is finally open.
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