Struggling Steelers Veteran Makes Surprising Position Switch

What do you do with a player who’s been struggling since he was drafted but you don’t want to cut? Try him out at a different position. So far, the experiment is working.

With rookie fullback Monte Pottebaum having retired suddenly, the Pittsburgh Steelers found themselves down a fullback. The team doesn’t utilize the position but a small percentage of the time, so when a spot opened, it wasn’t worth panicking and adding a free agent (ahem, Derek Watt). They simply looked to their current roster and saw a potential solution.

For reasons unknown, Pittsburgh hasn’t sent offensive lineman Kendrick Green packing, despite struggling mightily since day one. Instead, they found a use for him at fullback.

But when asked directly about the situation, he downplayed it.

“I don’t think it will be anything too serious… We’ll see,” Green said. “It was just something that Coach [Tomlin] wanted to see. … It might just be a today thing only.”

Only it wasn’t.

The experiment went on for two days and could continue into next week as the Steelers prepare for their first preseason matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday, August 11.

“He is a lead blocker and looks quite effective in doing it,” Steelers Now’s Nick Farabaugh wrote. “For Green, that is not too big of a surprise. His strength has always been blocking in space and using his athleticism to destroy guys. It seems that Green is now having the game catered to his strengths and excelling as a result of that.”

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Kendrick Green at Fullback Is Nothing New to the Steelers

Kendrick Green at fullback is new to fans, but not the Pittsburgh Steelers. In preparation for the Baltimore Ravens in 2022, he simulated 6-foot-3, 305-pound fullback Patrick Ricard on the scout team and Mike Tomlin filed it in his mind for future reference.

“You know he’s done some nice things, but it’s not new to him,” Tomlin said in an August 5 press conference. “We really discovered it late last season in preparation for Baltimore when he was representing that big fullback (Ricard) for them. That guy’s a unique guy. And so, we asked KG to provide a quality look for us, and he really did and so we just kind of put that in a hip pocket.”

As most coaches are, Tomlin is a big fan of versatility and if Green can succeed at fullback, it could just save his job.

“In an environment like this, man, we want to see what guys are capable of doing adding to their cause and ours, and he’s shown some flexibility there.”

Selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound guard was thrown into the fire at center. Maurkice Pouncey retired the season before and Pittsburgh had a vacancy. Unfortunately, Green floundered filling it. He wracked up nine penalties and, according to Pro Football Focus, was consistently beaten by defenders allowing 19 pressures on Ben Roethlisberger, including three ugly sacks. After 15 starts, he was benched for the final two games of the season and all of 2022.

With a plethora of quality guards and a stalwart center, Kendrick Green’s only real hope to make the 53-man roster could very likely be at fullback.

“He had everybody hyped,” rookie left tackle Broderick Jones said via TribLive’s Joe Rutter. “I’m happy for him. That’s going to be a big asset for us in the long run. People don’t see that too often, and they won’t expect it.”

While the hype could be short-lived (Green has no expectations of becoming a regular fullback), he knows the drill.

“I do whatever Mike Tomlin tells me to do.”

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