Pittsburgh Steelers fifth-round pick Riley Nowakowski is returning to Wisconsin after OTAs to train alongside teammates T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig.
Nowakowski, a Wisconsin alumnus like Watt and Herbig, will work out with the pair as he aims to secure a spot on the 53-man roster. The rookie is competing at fullback and tight end. “I train with Nick and T.J. back in Wisconsin, so I’ll be hanging out with them a lot,” Nowakowski said. “It’s awesome. I actually went to school with Nick, I went through college with him, so I obviously worked out with him a lot there.” The Steelers have seen changes in their tight end group, including the departures of Jonnu Smith and Connor Heyward and the addition of veteran Robert Tonyan. New head coach Mike McCarthy has expressed support for the fullback position, with Ramon Chinyoung Sr. as the running backs coach. Nowakowski can draw on the experience of the established defenders while preparing for his professional career.