On Monday, I posted a few things that I was hoping we would learn from the Pittsburgh Steelers first OTA session of the 2013 season that got underway on Tuesday and one of those items concerned rookie undrafted free agent wide receiver Reggie Dunn, and more specifically, his ability to return punts.
It just so happens that Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted about Dunn in his Tuesday online chat and apparently the Utah kickoff return extraordinaire has yet to master the skill of catching punts.
“I\’m told Dunn, while a great kick returner, has not mastered the job of catching the ball on punts,” wrote Bouchette, when asked how the punt return job is shaping up early on.
Bouchette did not clarify when he was told that bit of information about Dunn, but even Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said during his recent conference call with season ticket holders that he was curious to see if the 5 foot, 9 inch, 178 pound wide receiver has what it takes to seriously compete for the punt return job.
Yes, it\’s still way early in the off-season and hopefully we will get a few more punt return reports on Dunn over the course of the next several OTA practices. Hopefully those future reports include him showing improvement in that area.
Dunn, along with offensive linemen Nik Embernate and Mike Golic Jr., have been the most talked about undrafted free agents this offseason. While all three definitely have their work cut out for them in order to make the Steelers 53 man roster out of training camp, Dunn perhaps has the toughest road of the three to travel. Should he be unable to master the art of catching punts by the time training camp rolls around, that road will become even rockier for him.
