Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: WR Calvin Austin III
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: After missing his rookie season due to a foot injury, Calvin Austin III stepped onto the field at Saint Vincent College for the first time this year yesterday and had a day to forget. Based on first-hand reports from Alex Kozora, the second-year wide receiver failed to come down with several passes yesterday, getting off to a rough start.
Even before I begin, I know there is going to be a segment of “readers” on social media who will read the headline and freak out without digging into the context. Either they’ll think I’m a fool for writing Calvin Austin III off so early or they’ll have a panic attack about him already being a bust.
For those who are actually reading this, particularly those prepared to freak out one way or another, let’s all take a deep breath. All this is about is a rough start, a bad first day. There’s nothing more to it than that, but it’s still worth talking about.
Following a spring sequence in which seemingly every member of the offense and offensive coaching staff sang his praises and explicated the many ways in which he will be used, Austin pretty much laid an egg his first time in front of fans since injuring his foot last year.
And that’s fine. It’s not the end of the world. The thing that matters is how he responds. It’s entirely possible that he has an awesome practice today and everybody immediately forgets about what went on the day before.
That doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t talk about what has happened, especially considering it’s the first thing that’s happened in a long, long time. At least it’s the first thing that has happened that is open to the public.
To his credit, Austin really did draw quite a bit of praise, including from the likes of Patrick Peterson, for what he showed on the field during OTAs and minicamp. And that’s not to be disregarded. The first few days of training camp are really pretty much a glorified minicamp anyway.
I suppose the bottom line is this: for all the hype behind the young second-year receiver who hasn’t had the opportunity to accomplish anything yet due to injury, this was not the start that was hoped for him. Particularly on deep targets, fans especially I think want to see him reel in a couple of those and get a sense of the sort of difference-maker he’s hoped to be. Yesterday was not that day. Perhaps today will be.
