Rodney ‘Hot Rod’ Williams making plays for Steelers, but fights numbers game at TE

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Come out for the stretches and early individual work that begin Pittsburgh Steelers practices, and you’ll hear tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts repeatedly call out a particular name.

“That’s my guy,” Rodney Williams was saying of his position coach. “Yeah, he’s called me ‘Hot Rod.’

“I don’t even hear ‘Rodney’ anymore. That’s all I hear now, ‘Hot Rod.’ Even my family started calling me that.”

If Williams somehow can carry over the plays he’s making at training camp into game settings, maybe Steelers fans will be chanting for ‘Hot Rod,’ too.

Williams punctuated Wednesday’s practice at Saint Vincent with two touchdown catches during the session-ending 11-on-11 red-zone drill. Williams dived for one and lunged for another, out-maneuvering defenders. He also had a touchdown in a seven-on-seven drill that preceded it, following a touchdown during the “seven shots” 2-point conversion simulation the day before.

Williams resides in what is one of the most stacked position rooms on the roster, but the 2022 undrafted free agent is nonetheless hoping to make enough of an impression to state his case to make the team during the regular season.

“I feel good,” said Williams, who was signed to the Steelers practice squad Sept. 13 and has been with the team since. “I feel like I am a much better player than I was when I arrived. The playbook is slowing down to me, the game is slowing down to me, so yeah, I am enjoying it.”

A six-year player in college at FCS Tennessee-Martin who received All-America recognition during the 2020-21 season, Williams spent last summer with the Denver Broncos before being cut at the end of training camp.

A converted wide receiver during his college career, Williams came to the pros as something of a project in regards to his blocking even if his receiving skills were intriguing.

“I have always been willing to do it,” Williams said, “I just needed to get my technique together — and also knowing what I am doing when I get to the line versus kind of thinking about what I have to do on the run. That’s been changing a lot, too.

Still, even if Williams proves a competent blocker and that he can make plays in the passing game, simple math stands in his way. The Steelers tight ends corps includes a high-end starter in Pat Freiermuth, a proven complementary piece who was re-signed in April in Zach Gentry, a versatile ascending second-year talent in Connor Heyward and this year’s third-round pick, Darnell Washington.

Williams has a healthy mindset in how he approaches his outlook.

“I mean, I know the situation,” Williams said. “I knew the situation before I got here, and Coach Fredo and Coach (Mike) Tomlin never sugarcoated or hid anything from me, so I know that my role on this team is not necessarily going to be on the offense. It’s going to have to be won on special teams, but I still want to know that I am capable of running the offense and show if they have to put me in the game there won’t be a drop-off.”

Williams practices with myriad special teams units. He said the five tight ends are a close-knit group and that his relationships with Roberts and special teams coordinator Danny Smith are strong.

Even if the odds appear stacked against him, Williams recognizes that anything can happen if you put yourself in position to take advantage of any opportunity that comes along.

“I have always believed that I have the talent to play at this level,” he said, “but a lot of times it’s about the attention to details and finding the right situation for you. That’s the biggest thing, and I think I found that situation here.”

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

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