Behind the Steel Curtain
The polls are closed, and the BTSC readership has spoken. After sorting through some attempted ballot box stuffing, the results were a runaway with one player securing nearly a third of the vote.
Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you your 2025 Isaac Redman Award winner!
It’s fitting that the Redman award goes to a fellow back.
While Nichols III was only given 11 carries during the preseason, he left his mark on the fan base and secured 85 votes from the BTSC readership. That’s peak Redman Award material.
Nichols — who goes by his middle name, but whose first name is actually Arthur — is an easy player to root for. As a senior at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Nichols eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing and scored 23 touchdowns on just 84 carries.
In college, he played for Central Michigan and wound up leading the FBS in rushing (1,710 yards) in 2021. He was drafted 235th overall by the Packers in the 2023 draft, but would spend the next two years on the Packers and Eagles practice squads.
This preseason, he turned 11 carries into 87 yards and five receptions into 36 yards.
That wasn’t enough for him to make the active roster, as he was among the 12 players cut by the Steelers on Monday. However, he should be considered among the top candidates to be brought back onto the team’s practice squad. Nichols previously stayed on the practice squad with both the Packers and Eagles after they cut him, and it would be a shock if he didn’t do the same with Pittsburgh.
Other notable candidates:
