Nichols Making the Most of Steelers Opportunity 

by Bo Marchionte
@bomarchionte | College2Pro.com
Published August 13, 2025, 3:29 PM

LATROBE, Pa – Not going to lie when I first saw Lew Nichols’ name pop up on the Steelers’ updated training camp roster, I barely blinked. A 7th-round pick by Green Bay in 2023, waived, called back, waived again. In my head, this was a camp body who would be gone before the weekend.

Lazy thinking on my part.

That’s the thing about Nichols he thrives in the blind spots, the places where no one’s really looking. The kid out of Central Michigan who ripped through the MAC in 2021 for 1,710 yards, winning MAC Offensive Player of the Year and leading the entire FBS in rushing, doesn’t seem to mind being underestimated. Maybe because he’s been living on the edge of the NFL since Day 1 practice squad contracts, short-term calls, and the constant threat of being told to hand in his playbook.

That’s why when Pittsburgh called on July 29, Nichols didn’t hesitate. He was ready.

“Oh, yeah, see, that’s what you can’t do,” Nichols said. “You just got to stay ready. I just love football. So, I just smile in the face of the adversity and take it on full head.”

Every day after that, I started catching him doing something worth noticing. The way he squared up in blitz pickup. How he slid through a gap with a sliver of daylight and turned it into yards. Small things that don’t light up the scoreboard but get a running backs coach nodding in film study. Little things that create big things.

Last Saturday against Tampa Bay, he led all Steelers in rushing 31 yards on six carries, averaging 5.2 yards per touch. Those aren’t headline-grabbing numbers, but in preseason football, efficiency matters. It was the kind of performance where you saw flashes of the guy who once dominated Saturday’s. Patience in the backfield, vision to see the cut, and balance to finish runs on his feet.

At 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds, Nichols is cut to the NFL’s preferred dimensions for a workhorse back. That’s the magic number thick through the hips and thighs, low center of gravity, built to absorb punishment and finish runs. It’s a frame you can trust in December, and every scout in the league knows it.

Nichols knows what’s at stake here.

“I just got to stay consistent, be a guy that can do a lot of things, just being ready at all times,” he said. It’s that ability to plug into whatever role a coach needs scout team grinder, pass-protector, late-game closer that’s kept him around even without a regular-season snap to his name.

He’s also quick to point out the running back room in Pittsburgh has been different. “We all help each other out, pick each other up, motivate each other. We all feed off each other,” he said.

Maybe that’s why this time feels different. Nichols is controlling what he can control, one rep at a time. “Doesn’t matter if it’s one rep, 20 reps, whatever, just got to make the most of that rep,” he said.

For a guy the league has tried to push to the curb more than once, Nichols keeps finding his way back into the fight. And now that I’ve seen him up close, I can’t help but root for the guy I almost didn’t notice.

Now No. 35 is the guy in my opinion who is hard not to notice.

Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com