Michigan State’s Connor Heyward picked by Steelers

Connor Heyward turned heads in his renaissance season, showcasing his blunt-force blocking and sure-handed receiving abilities.

The previous Michigan State working back-turned-tight finish supplied scouts a blueprint for his NFL future, and it earned him a spot in his household’s lengthy professional soccer lineage.

The Pittsburgh Steelers took Heyward with the 208th choose of the sixth spherical within the NFL draft on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Heyward is the third Spartan taken within the draft, essentially the most since they’d 5 taken in 2016.

He turns into the third member of his quick household to be drafted into the NFL. Heyward’s father, Craig, was a star working again and fullback who spent 11 seasons within the NFL. His brother, Cam, turned an All-Professional defensive deal with for the Pittsburgh Steelers in his 11 seasons since leaving Ohio State. Each had been first-round picks.

The youngest Heyward spent 5 seasons at MSU, together with a four-game redshirt season. He entered the switch portal however withdrew his identify and remained in East Lansing when Mel Tucker was named coach in early 2020. He performed working again and returned kicks throughout his first 4 years earlier than transferring to a good finish/H-back function in preseason camp final fall.

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That place change allowed him contribute to the Spartans’ 11-2 season in a wide range of methods. The 5-foot-11, 233-pound Heyward began all 13 video games and produced 326 receiving yards on 35 catches with two touchdowns. That included an acrobatic leaping rating in MSU’s win over his dad’s alma mater Pitt within the Peach Bowl, performed in Atlanta not removed from his hometown of Suwanee, Georgia. Heyward earned All-Huge Ten honorable point out and an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl after opting to forego his further COVID-1 waiver 12 months of eligibility.

Heyward ran for 818 yards and 5 scores and caught 61 passes for 385 yards with 4 touchdowns in his first 4 seasons. He performed in 49 video games with the Spartans, together with 28 begins, and completed with 2,265 profession all-purpose yards.

MSU’s final tight finish taken within the draft was Dion Sims, a fourth-round choose of Miami in 2013. The final Spartan fullbacks to be drafted got here earlier than the NFL-AFL merger in 1964, Roger Lopes to Baltimore within the NFL draft within the sixteenth spherical and Earl Lattimer to Buffalo of the AFL within the tenth spherical.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Observe him on Twitter @chrissolari. Learn extra on the Michigan State Spartans and join our Spartans e-newsletter.