With fullbacks for most teams gone the way of the dodo bird, nose tackles could be going the way of the fullback.
That’s the concern of Steelers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko, as he explained it in a recent appearance on Steelers Nation Radio.
“It’s kind of turning into the old fullback position,” Fehoko said, via SteelersDepot.com. “You don’t know you need it until you need it. I think it’s a fallen art. I think everybody just kind of recruits tackles nowadays. When you throw ‘nose’ in front of the ‘tackle,’ everybody thinks, like, a bigger body, a wide type, Vince Wilfork or Casey Hampton.”
The main goal, as Fehoko explained it, “is to make sure that they don’t run the ball in between the tackles. From ‘B’ gap to ‘B’ gap, you want to make sure the lanes are technically clogged, but you’re playing your blocks well. . . . I take a lot of pride in that. I take a lot of pride in making sure there’s no running between the tackles. I take a lot of pride in putting my hands on the center, making sure he doesn’t climb up to the linebacker.”
Fehoko, 26, was undrafted in 2020. He spent three years with the Chargers, and he signed with the Steelers in early April.
He’s currently projected to be the third-string nose tackle in Pittsburgh, behind Keeanu Benton and Montravius Adams.