The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? How might they tackle the NFL Draft? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: Could the new kick return rule help Calvin Austin III land the return man job?
The discussion over second-year wide receiver Calvin Austin III has become an interesting one. While there remain plenty of people in the proverbial middle, two steady factions have formed on either extreme.
Many anticipate him emerging in a key role this year. Many others question if he will even be on the roster. After all, he wouldn’t be the first fourth-round pick to miss making the team in year two, and he hasn’t even played in a preseason game.
The Steelers have their top three receivers clearly set, in a year in which they might be using more 12 personnel. That may leave limited meat on the bone for a fourth receiver, whether that’s Austin or somebody else. But he could still help himself by earning the return man job.
Recently, the league passed a new rule that almost nobody seemed to want, which would allow any fair catch on a kick return to be taken out to the 25-yard line. Previously, if a fair catch were made anywhere other than in the end zone, the ball would be placed at the spot it was caught.
The new rule, with an eye toward player safety, naturally, would seemingly make it less essential to have a high-quality kick returner, a fact that has only become increasingly true over the past decade as more an more kickoffs end in touchbacks.
Frankly, I don’t know if this rule will last more than one season, but we’re only talking about the 2023 season, for which it will be in effect. Now, Austin has some experience returning punts during his college career, but not returning kicks. So, then, does this rule make it easier for him to win that return man job, if all he has to do is fair catch the ball on kickoffs? And if so, how much easier?
