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Trace Eli Heidenreich's path from Navy slotback to Steelers running back

Navy listed him as a slot back. Draft profiles called him a receiver. The Steelers roster says running back. Each label is partly right, and the mix is his best argument for sticking around.

3 min read September 27, 2026 edition
A row of plain cream football helmets on a bench in morning light, all facing forward except one that is turned sideways as if about to switch positions.
Every helmet on the bench has one job, except the one that keeps changing seats. Illustration: Joyful Take.

Look Eli Heidenreich up in three places and you get three answers. Navy's roster calls him a slot back. Draft sites filed him as a receiver. The Steelers list him as running back No. 29. I spent a while trying to decide which one is correct, and my conclusion is that the confusion itself is the scouting report.

Start with the slot back

A slot back in Navy's option-based offense is a hybrid, expected to run, catch and block, often after moving before the snap. As a sophomore in 2023 under coordinator Grant Chesnut, the Capital Gazette's Bill Wagner found him in a double-slot set, split out wide, running jet sweeps and even lined up in the backfield in a three-point stance. He averaged 14.5 yards per touch that fall.

The big plays came from everywhere. That season included catches of 69 yards at Charlotte, 68 against South Florida and 49 against East Carolina, the Capital Gazette tallied, on just 14 receptions to that point. Slot backs coach Marcus Thomas called him "a real weapon in the passing game," and Chesnut said he had "a lot of confidence in Eli." For a second-year player sharing touches in an option offense, that is a lot of trust packed into very few chances.

Slotback is a really unique position. We have to do a little bit of everything and I'm loving it.

Eli Heidenreich, to the Capital Gazette, November 2023 (source)

Follow the offense as it changed around him

Navy changed coordinators after 2023. Drew Cronic arrived with a Wing-T offense built on misdirection and, by Navy standards, a lot more throwing. Heidenreich told Glenn Clark Radio in October 2024 that "we started putting on a lot more passing plays and just spreading the ball a lot more," according to PressBox. That fall he became the first Navy player to go over 100 yards rushing and 100 receiving in the same game, against Air Force.

You can watch the shift in his numbers. Carries went 27, 65, 77 across his three playing seasons. Catches went 19, 39, 51, and receiving yards climbed to 941 in 2025. The same Air Force rivalry that gave him that 2024 first gave him a 243-yard receiving day in 2025, beating a Navy record of 179 that dated to 1967. Somewhere in there he also kept up a major in cyber operations.

Carries and catches from his Wikipedia biography; yards per catch calculated by Joyful Take from the same season totals.
SeasonCarriesCatchesYards per catch
2023271920.1
2024653917.2
2025775118.5

Why Pittsburgh calls him a running back

NFL rosters need their backs to catch, pass-protect and return kicks, and a seventh-round pick survives by doing several of those cheaply. That is my reading of the label, not something the team has spelled out. What the preseason showed is on the record: 9 carries for 21 yards against Green Bay, 2 for 9 against the Jets, and 9 for 35 with a touchdown against Buffalo, per Sports Illustrated's Steelers site, which also noted he never climbed the depth chart at camp in Latrobe.

He talked to PressBox about the physical difference too. At receiver, he said, "you're coming off the ball, and it's pretty much near 100 percent speed every time." A back's job has more stop-and-start, more collisions, more waiting for a hole.

Find him on special teams first

Early in 2026 the Steelers' stats page showed three kickoff returns for 73 yards, with a long of 26. That is the honest near-term role. We could not find any team statement about expanding his offensive work, so I would not read much into a single week's snap count either way.

Still, the arc here is lovely. A kid who lined up everywhere at Navy because the playbook asked him to is now doing the same thing in the NFL because the roster asks him to. The label changed three times, and so did the number, from 22 at Navy to 29 in Pittsburgh. The job description, a little bit of everything, never did.

Sources

Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.

  1. Eli Heidenreich - Football roster biographyNaval Academy Athletics, accessed 2026-09-27.
  2. Navy football slotback Eli Heidenreich is a versatile player capable of lining up anywhere on the fieldBaltimore Sun (Capital Gazette), 2023-11-23.
  3. Eli Heidenreich 'Loving The Way' Navy Football's New Offense 'Has Played Out So Far'PressBox, 2024-10-11.
  4. Former Navy Football Star Eli Heidenreich: 'Really Humbling' To Play For Hometown SteelersPressBox, 2026-09-15.
  5. Steelers Local Rookie, Former Navy Star, Makes 53-Man RosterSports Illustrated (Steelers On SI), 2026-08-30.
  6. Eli Heidenreich 2026 regular-season statsPittsburgh Steelers (Steelers.com), accessed 2026-09-27.
  7. Navy player sets absurd receiving record vs. Air ForceSaturday Down South, 2025-10-04.
  8. Eli HeidenreichWikipedia, accessed 2026-09-27.