While walking alongside the fields in the back of the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, it's not difficult to separate Monte Pottebaum from the rest of the pack.
Just look for the flowing, blonde mullet peeking through the back of the black helmet and draping over the No. 40 on the back of his jersey.
Though he is working in with the rest of the Steelers' running backs room -- and within a position that brings more flair and flash nowadays than perhaps in the past -- Pottebaum is a true throwback football player in every sense of the word. He gets his toughness from his brother, Marty Pottebaum, who is five years his senior and, as Monte told me after Wednesday's OTA, roughed him up a bit when they were younger, as an older brother might do.
That toughness only grew as he became a key fixture of Iowa's run-heavy offense, and he has a chance to carry that on as a professional after signing as an undrafted rookie a month ago.
Just don't tell him the position is fading away. He is here to stop that trend.
"That’s kind of been my motto ever since I got to college," Pottebaum told me. "I’m trying to keep it alive, trying to bring it back. I’ve just been doing my best, working on contributing to the team and actually helping out the team in the running game, for sure."
The idea of using a fullback is fading into obscurity, as NFL offenses have largely been leaning towards pass-heavy schemes and personnel favoring multiple wide receivers and/or tight ends over recent memory. As a counter from a defensive perspective, teams have leaned towards linebackers with more speed characteristics over power characteristics and have the ability to defend the pass efficiently.
So, it isn't that the fullback position has no value whatsoever, but the position has become more of a niche for an offense and, subsequently, defenses have adjusted accordingly.
The fullback is a pretty self-explanatory position at its core. Give the running back another hole to run through, and lead the way through the hole created by the offensive line.
“I haven’t had that too many times in my life, but I like it," Jaylen Warren told me. "More blockers the better. It’s just another dude, especially when he’s in front of you, you can use him as a guide. I think it’s cool."
The Steelers have always been pro-fullback, and when looking at the modern era of having a Dan Kreider, Carey Davis, and Roosevel Nix as true blockers while thinking of David Johnson or Will Johnson as a hybrid player with receiving and blocking skills, there have been players with multiple skillsets mixed and matched with the style of the offense.
Even going back over the previous three seasons when Derek Watt was set as the lead fullback, he brought some versatility to the room and was productive as a run blocker while doing it. According to Pro Football Focus, Watt had the highest grade of any Steelers running back at 76.3 in 2021 while achieving a run blocking grade of 71.9, good for second on the team. In 2022, however, Watt's production slipped, as he earned a run blocking grade of 51.4.
Out goes Watt, in comes Pottebaum, who profiles similarly to the traditional road-grading fullbacks of yesteryear.
And, he's perfectly OK with that.
“He’s got to be tough and he’s got to want to run through people and just bring that physical edge and be ready to go every play, play some real football," Pottebaum said of what makes a good fullback. "... From high school to college it’s always been that mentality and it’s the offense I played in. Just smash-mouth football, good, old-school football. So it’s just grown from there.”
He certainly showed it at Iowa, too:
Woke up and thought about the @MontePottebaum blocking on this TD. 💯 pic.twitter.com/ltzC8va06P
— Iowa On BTN (@IowaOnBTN) November 7, 2021
Iowa FB Monte Pottebaum is a damn buzzsaw. pic.twitter.com/qDftCxh2bP
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) December 6, 2022
And, he's not a bad runner, either:
#Huskers Hawkeye Fullback Monte Pottebaum.
— @DaltonEastNE (@DaltonEastNE) November 28, 2021
3rd Down Conversion. 26 Yard Gain.
Ft. Husker Sports Radio🌽🚨 pic.twitter.com/sAwpWq7Xpi
Pottebaum, as expected, didn't post any extravagant stat lines in college, but in an age where those are heralded and raved over on social media, that's not the kind of player he is. Pottebaum recorded just 20 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown and added 10 catches for 85 yards in his four years at Iowa.
(All while growing out his mullet, as he says, starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, as one of his teammates grew one out with him. He said he's keeping the mullet around for as long as he is playing football.)
There are, of course, ways to get elite use out of a fullback. Over recent years, San Francisco's Kyle Juszczyk and Baltimore's Pat Ricard have become staple members of their respective offenses.
“Juszczyk is just versatile," Pottebaum said. "You can put him at any position on the field and he makes plays and helps out the offense and then Ricard, he’s a big dude, man. He moves some people. That’s what stands out to me, and he plays a lot of their offensive snaps, too.”
Perhaps this is a good landing spot for him. Pottebaum said he grew up in Iowa as a fan of the Steelers and always admired Najee Harris as a runner.
Now, he gets to block for him.
“He’s downhill, but he can also hurdle you, he can also do all of the stuff that you’ve seen. An all-around guy,” Pottebaum said.
There is an artform to the position, in a way. Not only does a fullback need to know the offense just as any player does, there is a quotient of knowing the tendencies of the runner coming through behind him.
“I think it kind of melts in together," Pottebaum said. "Obviously you need to know the playbook and you need to know what you’re doing every play, but then also knowing the running back and what they like. If they’re a downhill runner or if they try to bounce it outside, try to use their speed, that’s what they do.”
Pottebaum won't go without some competition, however. Connor Heyward revealed to me Tuesday he has been testing at fullback during these OTAs, though he could be viewed as more of the receiving H-back while Pottebaum takes on the primary blocking duties for Harris, Warren, and the rest of the Steelers' running backs room.
Regardless of who takes on the primary role at the position, it is a position that will continue to be utilized by the Steelers' offense.
“It’s just an eligible offensive lineman out there for the most part," Mason Cole said. "You can do a lot with a fullback. Any body type like that, even tight ends and whatever Connor (Heyward) is, it opens your offense so much. You can play-action, you can run the ball, use them as blockers, take them on routes and run just as well. It’s cool to see that position group and how much we can do with it.”
