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Roundtable Sports
Fifth-Round Pick Riley Nowakowski Gives Steelers Versatility
- Story byRoundtable Sports
- Fifth-Round Pick Riley Nowakowski Gives Steelers Versatility
(© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY)
The Pittsburgh Steelers went for a player with a championshippedigree by selecting Indiana fullback/tight end Riley Nowakowski on Saturdayin the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
That championship run was fueled in part by Nowakowski, whostarted all 16 games for Indiana last season. The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder caughta career-high 32 passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns, and scored one-yardrushing TDs on both his carries.
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Building on that success, Nowakowski impacted the CollegeFootball Playoff championship game by scoring the first touchdown on a plungeagainst Miami . He was named third-team All-Big Ten tight end after five seasonsat conference rival Wisconsin.
After playing in the East-West Shrine Game, Nowakowski ran 4.66 seconds inthe 40-yard dash and posted a vertical jump of 33 ½ inches at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Nowakowski appeared in 40 games over five seasons with theBadgers, starting 10. He played four games as a freshman reserve in 2020 beforeredshirting, and totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and one touchdown atWisconsin.
Given his well-rounded background, the Steelers valueNowakowski's versatility, as he can line up at the line of scrimmage or in thebackfield.
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"He's shown on tape that he has the ability to navigatethrough the backfield," Pittsburgh running backs coach Ramon Chinyoung Sr.said. "But the young man plays with grit. At the end of the day, it's allabout will. You've got to be willing to go hunt. He's done a lot of greatthings on tape. He's growing as a backfield blocker. I can't wait to get towork with him."
In addition to his athletic achievements, Nowakowski earned abachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Wisconsin and pursued graduatestudies in business analytics at Indiana.
As a senior at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee,Nowakowski won the John Anderson Award as Wisconsin’s top prep linebacker. Hewas first-team all-state with 126 tackles, including 29 for loss, and addedthree sacks, four forced fumbles, and two interceptions. He also lettered inbasketball and track.
Nowakowski was with family and friends when he learned theSteelers had drafted him.
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"It was just a very emotional moment, just all the hardwork that's gone in throughout the years, all these people here that havesupported me throughout the year," Nowakowski said. "Just being ableto celebrate with them and hear my name called is definitely somethingspecial.”
