Riley
Nowakowski.
Riley
Nowakowski.
Indiana· 6'2"· 250 lb· 4.66s 40
R5 · #169 · Pittsburgh Steelers"Wisconsin walk-on linebacker turned Indiana championship-winning FB/TE hybrid — special-teams culture pick with a national-title signature snap and a genuine H-back path in a gap-scheme offense."Pre-draft read
This player presents as an old-school fullback, built like a modern H-back. He aligns as an in-line Y, wing, sniffer, offset I-back, and split-zone puller. His primary win trait is contact, squaring up linebackers in the hole and finishing blocks through the whistle, generating displacement as a lead blocker.
His secondary strength is short-area reliability, demonstrating reliable hands on flat routes, dump-offs, and play-action leaks. He possesses a plus feel for finding soft spots behind pulling guards. Releases off the ball are patient and technique-driven, rather than sudden. His route tree is tight, focused on flats, angles, and seams off play-action, with real body control at the catch point.
This prospect best fits a gap/duo power run game scheme where play-action passing and special teams contributions are valued.
Immediate core-four special teams contributor with a Year 1 chance to compete for H-back/fullback snaps, developing into a reliable, versatile short-yardage and goal-line weapon.
An Air Raid offense that prioritizes receiving tight ends with extensive route trees and sudden burst for vertical stretching.
Nowakowski's old-school fullback build and versatile blocking, catching, and special teams prowess make him a valuable asset in schemes that prioritize physicality and situational football over athletic upside.
Riley Nowakowski Touchdown — Miami vs Indiana CFP National Championship
Signature snap: first-quarter fullback dive touchdown against Miami in the January 2026 national title game.
Key to the IU Run Game — Riley Nowakowski TE
Film-room breakdown of how Cignetti's Indiana staff used Nowakowski as a puller, sniffer and lead blocker.
Riley Nowakowski BREAKS A TACKLE 21-Yds for the Score vs Wisconsin
Play-action leak against his former school, breaking an arm tackle and finishing for the score.
This player projects as a versatile H-back and core special-teamer, capable of contributing in gap-scheme offenses. A team acquires a player with a limited athletic ceiling but legitimate toughness and positional versatility, valuable for a fringe roster spot. His 4.66-second forty-yard dash time at 250 pounds confirms a functional strength profile, suitable for a lunch-pail Y-off role rather than a vertical receiving threat.
He spent six college seasons, five at Wisconsin and one at Indiana, transitioning from linebacker to fullback/tight end. His 2025 breakout season at Indiana saw him contribute 32 catches for 387 yards and two receiving touchdowns, alongside two rushing touchdowns. He played a significant role in Indiana's national championship run that year, including a first-quarter fullback dive touchdown in the CFP National Championship.
Evaluators noted his age and the fact that he only had one highly productive season. His limited route tree, due to a capped athletic profile, was a concern. Consensus board rankings had him in the fifth or sixth round, reflecting his potential as a core-four special-teamer with H-back development, and he was ultimately drafted in the fifth round.
- 01
Fullback contact profile
squares up linebackers in the hole and finishes through the whistle on power/counter and split-zone, with real displacement rather than just body-in-the-way blocks.
- 02
Positional Swiss Army
logged snaps at in-line Y, wing, sniffer, offset I fullback and puller in the same package, giving coordinators a chess piece for gap-scheme personnel groupings.
- 03
Special-teams résumé
Wisconsin and Indiana used him on every core unit; walk-on to national champion path means the tape and the interview room are both stacked in his favor.
- 04
Reliable outlet hands
32 catches for 387 yards as a fifth-year at Indiana with a 12.1 yards-per-catch built almost entirely on angles, flats and play-action leaks off pulls.
- 05
Championship-moment finish
first-quarter fullback dive touchdown against Miami in the national title game gave scouts an actual short-yardage projection with the lights on.
- 01
Athletic ceiling capped
4.66 forty at 250 with no vertical/broad/shuttle testing on record means the profile is functional strength, not sudden burst or vertical stretch.
- 02
Route tree stays tight
angles, flats, seams and dump-offs; deep in-breakers, corners and back-shoulder work basically do not exist on tape.
- 03
Small hands flag
8 3/4 hands is small for a 250-pound tight end/fullback and shows up on the ball placement drills scouts stack for contested reps.
- 04
Age curve
a fifth-year senior with only one legitimate production season at Indiana; the developmental runway most day-three picks get is essentially gone.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.66sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 12 | 7 | 57 | 1 |
| 2024 | Wisconsin | 13 | 11 | 74 | 0 |
| 2025 | Indiana | 16 | 32 | 387 | 2 |
| Career | — | 41 | 50 | 518 | 3 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Fernando MendozaQB23%
- Davion ChandlerWR11%
- Elijah SarrattWR9%
#11 of 20 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.22 (p46) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Fullback/tight end tweener whose real NFL job is core-four special teams with a handful of short-yardage and goal-line snaps.
Modern fullback who sticks on special teams, chips as a lead blocker and catches enough flats to justify an offensive helmet.
College fullback with strong intangibles who never carved out an NFL role beyond a practice squad rotation.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
**Pre-draft context.** Nowakowski walked on at Wisconsin as a linebacker out of Milwaukee, converted to fullback/tight end early in his career, and spent five seasons cycling through short-yardage and special-teams work before transferring to Curt Cignetti's Indiana in 2025. That season the Hoosiers went 15-1, won their first national championship, and Nowakowski broke out as a genuine H-back — 32-387-2 receiving plus two rushing touchdowns, capped by a first-quarter fullback dive score against Miami in the CFP title game. He measured 6-2 1/4, 250 with 31 1/2 arms and 8 3/4 hands at the Combine and ran a 4.66 forty, a testing line that matched the lunch-pail role rather than the modern move-tight-end archetype.
**NFL fit — Pittsburgh Steelers.** Pittsburgh took him at 169 to stack a room that already featured Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, with the specific pitch being fullback and H-back reps in a gap-heavy scheme plus a starting job on every core special-teams unit. Rookie camp reports have him working as the FB1 in 21 personnel and short-yardage packages, with the receiving role capped at play-action leaks and flat outlets. The Steelers historically carry a true fullback when they have one worth carrying, so the roster path is real if the special-teams tape holds.
**Retrospective.** Too early to grade the pick, but the evaluation is easy to read: Pittsburgh paid a fifth-round price for a special-teams anchor with a national-championship signature snap and a niche H-back role, betting that the intangibles and the position scarcity outweigh a capped athletic profile. If he wins the FB1 job out of camp and stays healthy, the price looks fair; if not, the frame and route-tree ceiling make him a practice-squad candidate rather than a developmental starter.