The Pittsburgh Steelers are back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted before they even reached the postseason, which unfortunately marks the sixth consecutive season in which they failed to win a postseason game—tying their longest drought of the Super Bowl era. Yet again, they find themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so are we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-8 and nearly making the postseason at all, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Haden to most of their wide receiver room, not to mention Stephon Tuitt’s decision to retire.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2022 season.
Player: Pressley Harvin III
Position: P
Experience: 2 Years
The seventh-round draft pick unquestionably had a stronger second season in 2022 in comparison to his turbulent rookie campaign. Inconsistency marred any limited successes that he did have during a year in which he battled much personal tragedy.
Really, there weren’t too many bad games, perhaps the first Baltimore game being up there. He netted under 30 yards per punt in that contest with one touchback and another that was returned. His directional punting did take a noticeable step forward.
Ultimately, his numbers on the season were thoroughly average, which was a step forward. His net yards per punt ranked in the middle of the pack, even if not long ago over 41 net yards was regarded as more than respectable.
He also improved on his ability to land kicks inside the 20 (though this remains a significant target area for improvement), and he had among the lowest percentages of punts returned in the league, with a relatively middling number of touchbacks. His hangtime was also in the top 10 in the NFL.
Improvements were apparent and unquestionable, but true consistency still eludes him. That’s not uncharacteristic for young punters, many of whom don’t truly start to hit their groove a few years into their career.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the Steelers will leave his job uncontested. They’re not going to have another shot at Corliss Waitman any time soon, I would imagine, but there will be another punter in training camp I’m sure.
