Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Kendrick Green of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles during a preseason game at Lincoln Financial Field on August 12, 2021.
Barring a change in fortunes, former Pittsburgh Steelers 3rd-round pick Kendrick Green is likely to get cut sometime before the start of the 2023 regular season. After starting 15 games at center as a rookie, he was moved to guard in 2022 but didn’t see any regular-season game action. And with several interior offensive linemen since added in free agency (namely Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig), Green’s roster spot appears in greater jeopardy than ever before.
That said, former Steelers inside linebacker Vince Williams believes that Mike Tomlin & Co. ought to try Green at fullback. He proposed the idea in response to a tweeted video showing a pass rusher racing past Green like he wasn’t even there:
Kendrick Green: ‘A Bigger Rosie Nix’?
A day later Williams doubled-down on the idea: “I honestly do think Kendrick Green would be a ridiculously good fullback. A bigger Rosie Nix.”
I honestly do think Kendrick green would be a ridiculously good fullback. A bigger Rosie Nix.
Of course, Rosie Nix is a former Steelers fullback, one who played for Pittsburgh for five years (2015-19), earning Pro Bowl honors in 2017.
As for Green, he’s undersized for a guard or center, but athleticism isn’t his problem, as indicated by his Relative Athletic Score (RAS).
It may be highlights like this one that have Williams thinking Green could play fullback:
Or consider the following:
Pat Freiermuth and Kendrick Green key blocks on this windback play to Chase Claypool. #Steelers
Ramon Foster Says ‘No’ to Moving Kendrick Green to FB
But one of Vince Williams’ former teammates isn’t on board with the idea.
“I get his logic behind it,” began former Steelers offensive guard Ramon Foster, evaluating the idea during a recent edition of his podcast, The Ramon Foster Show.
“This is a young man, I think, that wants to play OL. If you put him on the field in big packages and stuff like that – tight red zone, third and one, fourth and one, having the ability to get an extra push at the line of scrimmage, yes. But a primary fullback? No. You know where I’m going with this one …. I reserve that role for Connor Heyward because then you become multi-faceted with what you can do with a guy like him on the field. You’re a liability by putting a big offensive lineman on the field that probably doesn’t have good hands catching the ball.”
Meanwhile, ex-Steelers linebackers Arthur Moats and Terence Garvin also weighed in on the idea when Garvin was a guest on Moats’ podcast.
Ex-Steelers LB Arthur Moats: ‘I Low-Key Like It’
“I like him at fullback. I think you give him a chance,” said Garvin.
Moats endorsed the idea, too, saying, “I low-key like it. I’m like, bro, you can run well. You have great size for a fullback and you have great size for a fullback. And, not every linebacker is gonna want to hit you. When you’re coming from depth. That’s different than you being at guard on the offensive line and it’s a step here, step there. When you coming from a fullback, you got time to get some speed up, you got time to think about it if you’re the defender. I don’t know if everybody gonna want to hit that,” quipped the ex-Steelers linebacker.
I like that on fourth-and-1,” concluded Garvin.