Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert held a conference call for season ticket holders on Tuesday and during the session he was asked to give his thoughts on Reggie Dunn, the undrafted free agent kick returner extraordinaire out of Utah.
“He is an exciting player. He ran in the 4.3s on his pro day,” said Colbert. “Reggie didn’t have a lot of production as a receiver or a runner, but on kick returns – I believe without checking – he had 10 kickoff returns and four of those were for touchdowns.
“He isn’t the biggest guy. He is extremely fast. We know what he can do as a kickoff returner, we’re anxious to see how he can handle punts. He really didn’t do a lot of punt returns at Utah because they had others who were, quite honestly, better during his time there. We’re excited because the speed (is something) you can’t teach. You have to give that young man the opportunity to prove what he can or can’t do on the field.”
Dunn has created quite a stir since being signed by the Steelers after word spread that he set NCAA records for kickoff returns for touchdowns in a season (four), 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns in a career (five), and 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns in a game (two).
As far as his punt returning and receiving abilities go, Dunn only returned one punt during his career at Utah for seven yards and only caught 31 passes for 355 yards and a touchdown in the 38 games that he played in.
In 2012, freshman Charles Henderson was Utah\’s primary punt returner, but his lowly 5.31 yards per return average makes you wonder why Dunn wasn\’t used in that role. According to Colbert, he certainly will get an opportunity to perform that duty in training camp. At 5093 and 178 pounds, Dunn will also have a lot to prove as a receiver in training camp in addition.
As I pointed out in a post after Dunn was signed, he has a huge uphill battle ahead of him as it relates to making the Steelers 53 man roster. Until he shows otherwise, he must be regarded as a one-trick pony. Speed certainly does kill and his one trick is certainly quite spectacular, but if that is all that he brings to the table, the Steelers aren\’t likely to keep around.
