PITTSBURGH — When the Los Angeles Chargers, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 3 opponent, hired Greg Roman as their offensive coordinator this offseason, they set out to replicate a lot of what he had during his four seasons as the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator.
At running back, the Chargers landed two of Roman’s old soldiers in JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards.
They already had the makings of a strong offensive line with 2021 and 2022 first-round picks Rashawn Slater and Zion Johnson on the left side and added 2024 first-round pick Joe Alt to the right side.
At tight end, the Chargers signed another former Ravens player in Hayden Hurst.
It’s basically Baltimore west on the offense for L.A., but they were missing a key part. The Ravens use converted defensive lineman Patrick Ricard as a fullback in their run formations.
The Chargers didn’t have a fullback, but they did have a defensive lineman willing to convert. Enter Scott Matlock: 6-foot-4, 300-pound nose tackle who was the team’s sixth-round draft pick out of Boise State in 2023. Matlock played a good bit as a rookie. He’s no slouch on defense.
But Roman saw something in the gigantic red-haired nose tackle, who looks more like a Game of Thrones character than a fullback. Two weeks into the transition, the big man has made a big impact, leading the way for one of the NFL’s best rushing offenses. The Chargers are fourth in rushing yards per attempt at an eye-popping 5.6 yards per carry and second with 395 rushing yards.
Everyone smiled at Jim Harbaugh when he did Harbaugh things. He took a 6'4 300lb DT, slapped #44 on him, and turned him into a fullback.
There's still room for improvement, but ladies and gentlemen, the weapons grade ginger himself, Scott Matlock throwing blocks.#BoltUp pic.twitter.com/bZfNKeN278— Thomas Martinez (@BoltsDraftTalk) September 17, 2024
When the Steelers defense turned on the tape to start to prepare for their Week 3 matchup with the Chargers, the big redhead obviously stood out.
“I literally was like, God damn,” linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “I didn’t think I was gonna see this until the Ravens. …
“He does what he does well for their offense. It’s not a shot at him or nothing like that. He’s doing a great job. He opening up some big holes for them. Like I said, I’m always up for any challenge. I love contact. I love those types of challenges and stuff like that. It’s gonna be a 60 minute game. I’ll probably come out of the game sore as shit, but it is what it is.”
The Steelers don’t have any divisional games on their schedule until the second half of the season, but they’re getting a nice preview in these Ravens turned Chargers.
“You’ve gotta be ready to play smash mouth ball,” nose tackle Keeanu Benton said. “I feel like as a front seven, even our DBs, we’ve gotta be ready to hit, we’ve gotta be ready to fill those gaps and the most physical team is going to win.”
Benton said he likes those games, even if they might leave his linebacker brethren a little bit sore.
“I do indeed,” he said. “I feel like it ain’t too much finesse in those games. It’s man v. man. You go out there and you play your heart out.”
This week at practice, Steelers practice squad fullback Jack Colletto has been playing Matlock at practice. He has not donned a red wig, nor is he wearing additional padding to simulate the 65-pound weight discrepancy.
“Maybe I’ll just eat more this week,” Colletto joked.
The Steelers don’t have a traditional fullback on their active roster, despite using Colletto a good bit during training camp. Could they be the latest team to try a nose tackle at fullback?
“I think I’m athletic enough,” Benton said.
That has to be every nose tackle’s dream, right? To get a chance to go be the aggressor and hit someone on offense? Not Benton. He’s pretty happy where he’s at.
“My dream is to be great at what I do.”