Mike Tomlin was willing to test anything to give the Pittsburgh Steelers an advantage on kickoff returns this season–even if that meant quarterback Justin Fields would return kicks.
Steelers running back Jaylen Warren revealed this spring that the coaching staff was considering trying out Fields as a kick returner. Not too long after Warren said that special teams coordinator Danny Smith had told the team about the possibility, the coaching staff tried to distance themselves from the idea. Fields said he didn’t plan on returning kicks.
However, early this offseason, Tomlin considered using Fields for the task. Per Nick Shook with NFL Media, Tomlin worked with the Madden gameplay team this spring to simulate what the new kickoff would be like. Tomlin believes Madden is one of the best football simulators on the market and uses special versions of the game to help teach his players concepts.
Mike Tomlin thought of Justin Fields as a KR
Tomlin asked the Madden gameplay team to swap out different players at different positions for the kickoff play, including using Fields as a returner:
With Tomlin guiding them, the gameplay team tried almost everything imaginable. They subbed in a tight end with a strong lead-block rating to see if a larger player with better blocking ability might be more beneficial at the point of attack. Remember the idea of using Fields as a returner? They tested that, too, giving Fields a useful role in an otherwise unorthodox situation.
Madden thinks the kick return play will be more like a running play
Fields was considered a top choice to return kicks because of his skills as a runner:
Eventually, Tomlin led the Madden gameplay team — which, [Clint] Oldenburg said, is filled with self-admitted “football nerds” — down a path of deeper thought, introducing ideas in which a return team might incorporate classic running schemes in order to create creases for returners.
Members of the public who played the beta version of Madden NFL 25 likely noted blockers crossing the field in an attempt to create a trap, which led to big gains and occasional kick-return touchdowns. Most everything one might see in a running play became fair game for the developers and Tomlin.
“When he started down the process of, ‘This is going to become like an offensive snap,’ and when the whole thing happened with Justin Fields … he told us specifically, ‘I might try to run a read option. I don’t know!’ ” Oldenburg recalled.
Fields is trying for the Pittsburgh Steelers QB1 job
Fields is in the middle of a public battle for the QB1 job in training camp. There haven’t been reports of the Steelers using Fields as a returner at practice this summer. Maybe the simulation proved that Fields wouldn’t have been the kick returner they need, or he’s too valuable for the team as a quarterback.
Fields has a chance to earn the starting job after Russell Wilson missed the start of training camp with a calf injury.
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