Former Steelers super star Connor Heyward dies in traffic accident at 25…

PITTSBURGH — Connor Heyward was never going to be a traditional tight end in the NFL. He wasn’t going to be blowing people off the ball at the end of the line, and he wasn’t going to be asked to run 5-yard dig routes. And even if he was asked to do those things tight ends do, he wasn’t going to be good at it all.

So, the Steelers’ young and emerging playmaking tight end pretty much knew what was going to happen on the second day of the NFL Draft last month when mammoth Georgia tight end Darnell Washington — whom many believed was the best tight end in the class — was still on the board late in the third round.

The Steelers drafted Washington with the 93rd pick. It was the third tight end they’ve drafted in three years despite Heyward putting some good tape together during the final third of the season a year ago.

“Honestly, I kind of figured we were going to do it, and it didn’t concern me or bother me,” Heyward said. “They bring in competition at every position. This is the NFL. The best guys are going to play, and that is what I was taught at a young age. Darnell is a good addition to our room. He considers himself a sixth offensive lineman, and we all know I am not one of those.”

Actually, you can say an official position isn’t attached to Heyward’s name right now. He still reports to tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts, but he has been in communication with running backs coach Eddie Faulkner since the team reconvened in mid-April for phase one of the offseason.

If all goes as planned, Heyward will be used in various ways — a real jack-of-all-trades, if you will — with fullback and tight end the main spots being earmarked for him early in the spring.

That’s how he’s listed on the team’s official roster: TE/FB.

“Connor is a professional,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said. “He has come in with a good attitude and had worked hard. He is going to be a chess piece that we will use all over the field.”

Heyward was a running back, tight end, H-back and special teams player who endured hardships in college. Some were convinced the only reason the Steelers used the 208th pick on him in the 2022 draft was as a favor to his older brother, Cam Heyward. Now he could be the X-factor in an offense that needs some innovation.

“Keeping the defense on their heels this year is a big key, and hopefully I can help us do that,” Heyward said. “By Week 1 we will have a good idea of what will be happening. We are going to add the new with the old and have multiple big bodies out there.”

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The Steelers wrapped up their first week of organized team activities at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Thursday, slamming through their installation. They have yet to get to defining roles (Heyward said that won’t be for a while now), but Heyward was told they are going to use him in various ways beyond a pass-catching tight end, fullback and special teams ace.

Being a quick, nimble and somewhat generously listed 6-foot, 230-pound player, the Steelers are anticipating Heyward being a matchup nightmare in a league built on success coming from creating mismatches.

“We’ve got him as a tight end, but the things he can do, the way we can move him around — maybe not calling him a fullback, but I think his skill set fits that role,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said last month.

Canada told Heyward something different.

“Learn everything … learn the whole offense so we can plug you in where we need you, whether it is fullback, running back, tight end, two-tight-end sets,” Heyward said. “I feel that I can play running back at this level on third downs, pass pro, catch the ball out of the backfield, line me up in empty. It is just knowing what to do. This game is all about matchups, and that is what we want to do.”

Heyward paused, then added: “There is not a linebacker in this league who can cover me. I’m serious.”

He played in all 17 games last season, but the stats were pedestrian. He caught 12 passes for 151 yards and a game-winning touchdown (the only touchdown of the game) against the Falcons in his hometown of Atlanta late in the season.

Heyward was limited to what he was asked to do last year.

“I think Connor has a lot of talents and can do a lot of different things, but can you ask him to learn every single thing?” Canada said at the end of last season. “You can’t. I think we’ve tried to manage that.”

But his impressive twisting catch down the field against the Browns in the finale and his game-clinching end around against the Raiders — a 21-yard run with 25 seconds left on a second-and-10 with the Steelers clinging to a 13-10 lead — stand out when considering what Canada might ask him to do this year.

“He got the moves, man,” running back Jaylen Warren said. “A guy that size, they don’t normally move like that. We are starting to find out where everybody’s strong suits are. This is a good time to put guys in spots to see what they can do.”

There basically isn’t a position Heyward can’t play. First and foremost, he calls himself a receiver.

“Go look at my high school tape — you will see,” he said, smiling.

But Michigan State is where he made his mark as a versatile player. After his playing time at running back dwindled during his junior year, he left the team after four games and eventually entered the transfer portal. After four months of contemplation and talks with his family, he met with then-new coach Mel Tucker, who welcomed him back.

Heyward redshirted that season, returned in 2020 and regained his starting spot at running back. The following season, the new staff came to Heyward with a proposal to move him to tight end.

Heyward grabbed 96 receptions for 711 yards and six touchdowns over five years with the Spartans, including a fourth-quarter touchdown against Pitt in the Peach Bowl victory on Dec. 30, 2021.

Heyward is a bit undersized for a tight end — tight ends in the NFL average about 6-5 and 250 pounds, putting him at a sizable disadvantage. Canada views him as having a fullback-type body. The Steelers didn’t re-sign Derek Watt, leaving the position to Heyward.

But don’t think it’s going to be your textbook Patrick Ricard-like tight end role. Canada rarely uses the fullback (Watt averaged 4.5 offensive snaps per game last year), and when he does, it’s not often as a lead blocker.

“If you look at our offense, the fullback has never really been traditional,” Heyward said. “A lot of times Derek was out there, he was getting the ball on third down and fourth-and-short. I think I can do all those things that can keep the chains moving. Derek was really good at that. It was almost like he was automatic when he was in there, so hopefully I can do the same.

“But I know I will be doing a lot of different things.