{"id":187888,"date":"2026-05-09T07:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T07:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/187888\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T07:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T07:45:16","slug":"riley-nowakowskis-blueprint-for-success-can-be-found-in-pittsburghs-plan-30-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/187888\/","title":{"rendered":"Riley Nowakowski’s Blueprint For Success Can Be Found In Pittsburgh’s Plan 30 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike McCarthy made it clear in his post-draft press conference. Selecting Indiana\u2019s Riley Nowakowski wasn\u2019t just about having an as-needed blocker. McCarthy is leaning on his West Coast roots<\/a> to bring a \u201990s flair to Pittsburgh\u2019s offense. One that includes a fullback. That\u2019s Nowakowski.<\/p>\n

If Nowakowski wants a map of what his role could look like, he should turn the page back to 30 years ago. A golden era for fullbacks, there were two years that Pittsburgh rostered John L. Williams.<\/p>\n

Williams is best known for his time in Seattle. One of several Penn State first-round backfield mates of that time, Williams was never the star. He was whatever the offense needed him to be. He could block, catch, and run, and regularly did all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlocking has always been a big part of my game,\u201d Williams told the Los Angeles Times in 1988. <\/a>\u201cI\u2019ll block for [running back Curt Warner] all day, and it\u2019s the same way with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defensive people are out to take my head off, so I have to protect myself. If you explode into them, it takes some of the pressure off their hit. It doesn\u2019t intimidate them, but it lets them know you\u2019re not going to let them run all over you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In four of his eight seasons with Seattle, he tallied over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. In 1990, Williams rushed for over 700 yards, had nearly as many receiving yards, found the end zone three times, and made the Pro Bowl. He followed that up with a similar performance and the same accolade in 1991.<\/p>\n

He spent his final two seasons, 1994 and 1995, in Pittsburgh. Williams carried the ball less frequently in his 30s; most of his action came when injuries struck. In 1994, 20 of his 68 carries came when Bam Morris sat out with an upper left leg injury. He primarily focused on being a receiver. That year, he led the Steelers with 51 receptions for 378 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

In the 1995 AFC Championship Game, Williams caught a touchdown pass to begin the scoring. Pittsburgh would fall to the San Diego Chargers, one game shy of the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

1995 was his final season. Carrying the ball 29 times with another 24 receptions, he again scored in the postseason. This time, he did so as a runner to help blow out the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n

Riley Nowakowski isn\u2019t cut from the exact same cloth. He\u2019s a little stouter. He\u2019s not nearly as quick nor the ball carrier Williams was. But there\u2019s still overlap in their respective roles. Nowakowski can catch the ball and showcased that last year at Indiana. He can block, catch, run the ball in moments (he had two rushing scores in 2025), and play on special teams.<\/p>\n

Plays like the one that Williams had above are the type Nowakowski must make. They\u2019re ones he made in college. This touchdown against Wisconsin was a similar concept, and he also broke a couple of tackles on his way into the end zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about it because I love the two-back offense,\u201d McCarthy said after the draft. \u201cThere [are] a lot of things, you start in this league in the 90s where the two-back offense was a primary component of normal down and distance. Now, to be able to bring some of that back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blocking can\u2019t be forgotten either. Nowakowski\u2019s primarily role was that in college with the background of a linebacker who likes to hit. He strains and finishes and can lead the way for Jaylen Warren, Rico Dowdle, and whoever else is toting the rock this season.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s his path. A multi-faceted fullback who reminds you of one of the stars of the \u201980s and \u201990s. Roger Craig. Larry Centers. John L. Williams. That\u2019s the ideal role for Riley Nowakowski. The modern NFL world is slowly creeping back to old-school roots; teams are using more tight ends, turning back to the run game, and getting more physical. Nowakowski is entering the league at an opportune time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike McCarthy made it clear in his post-draft press conference. Selecting Indiana\u2019s Riley Nowakowski wasn\u2019t just about having…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[83833,8203,73,75,74,1833,78793],"class_list":["post-187888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-john-l-williams","tag-mike-mccarthy","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-riley-nowakowski"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}