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? 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: Is there any validity to comparisons between Calvin Austin III and players like Dri Archer and Senquez Golson in terms of durability and limitations?
Even though the name Dri Archer often seems to be spoken in hushed tones around Pittsburgh, it really shouldn’t be. Was he a third-round talent? Perhaps not. Was he going to be some secret offensive weapon? No. But he could have been a good gadget guy and was already developing into a good kick returner when Mike Tomlin gave up on him to claim Jacoby Jones off waivers, which proved to be a foolish mistake.
But ever since, every smaller player the Steelers have drafted seems to have gotten likened to Archer in a negative light, with 2022 fourth-round wide receiver Calvin Austin III being the latest. He’s also getting Senquez Golson comparisons coming off of a foot injury.
But while we don’t know which path Austin’s career is going to take at this point, or if he is even going to have a career, the question of the day is, is the conversation legitimate? Does it have merit? Or is it just some baseless talking point?
One thing the two seem to have in common in the negative category, based on Austin’s college tape, is an inability to survive contact. In the NFL, while Archer was fast and elusive, more often than not he would go down like a sack of potatoes if you got a hand in him. I’m not sure Austin will prove to be much different.
Archer did have some injury issues. In the first game of his career, he injured both his knee and his ankle and missed the next two games. But the Golson comparisons would be more prudent if we’re talking about concerns for smaller-framed players being able to stay on the field.
