An injury-filled 2022 season caused a significant decline in play and overall production for one member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s aiming to bounce back in a big way in 2023. All eyes will be on the man in the Black and Gold.
I’m not talking about outside linebacker T.J. Watt, either.
No, I’m talking about kicker Chris Boswell, who is entering his age-32 season in the NFL and his ninth season with the Steelers.
Dealing with a number of injuries to his groin and hip, Boswell fell off a cliff from a statistics standpoint, converting just 71.4 percent of his kicks last season in just 12 games.
That decline in production came after a career year in 2021 in which Boswell drilled 36-of-40 field goals for the Steelers. The 2022 season saw him convert on just 20-of-28 attempts. He missed time due to injuries and watched Matthew Wright hit on 12-of-14 field goals in relief.
Now, entering the 2023 season Boswell is at a crossroads, much like he was in 2018 when he struggled with injuries and inconsistency. Boswell either bounces back to the level of play the Steelers and fans have been used to throughout his career in which he’s drilled 86.3 percent of his kicks, or he continues his struggles and ultimately loses his job, this time to a kicker who will provide some actual competition in former Clemson standout B.T. Potter.
As Boswell gets older and more expensive — his cap hit is $5,640,000 in 2023 — the Steelers have to start considering life after Boswell. That’s where Potter comes in. The Steelers had their eyes on him throughout the 2022 season at Clemson, and special teams coordinator Danny Smith attended Clemson’s Pro Day and personally put Potter through his workouts. The Steelers ultimately signed him quickly as an undrafted free agent, and he now has a chance to push Boswell.
Potter converted 75.3 percent of his kicks for the Tigers. He became the first kicker in ACC history to have four 100-point seasons, not to mention becoming the program’s all-time leader in field goals and extra points made and most points scored.
He’s an intriguing kicker, but there is really nothing like a healthy Boswell in the NFL at kicker outside of Baltimore’s Justin Tucker.
Boswell has a big leg, is deadly accurate and as consistent as they come when healthy. He wasn’t healthy last season though, and even when he was on the field it was apparent that he wasn’t the same kicker.
Some of Boswell’s struggles could certainly be to the injury to his groin and hip, which sapped some of his power and accuracy. Prior to landing on Injured Reserve after the Week Eight loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Boswell had missed just three field goal attempts. After returning from IR ahead of the Week 13 matchup against the visiting Baltimore Ravens, Boswell missed four kicks down the stretch, including two on Christmas Eve against the Las Vegas Raiders.
He very clearly wasn’t healthy during the 2022 season, which led to his worst season since his 2018 struggles.
While it’s fair to expect him to be healthy heading into the 2023 season, injuries to the groin and hip for kickers are extremely concerning. It’s especially worrisome that Boswell is a bit of an unknown from a health standpoint at 32 considering the style of football Pittsburgh wants to play.
With the way that head coach Mike Tomlin wants the Steelers to play football as second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett develops, expect a lot of low-scoring games featuring a heavy dose of the run game and a team leaning mightily on its star-studded defense to win close games. Of course, that could all change if Pickett takes that massive second-year leap many are expecting, and third-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada opens up the playbook a bit more.
But all the roster moves this offseason signal that Tomlin and the Steelers want to play those ugly, low-scoring games. That makes the 2023 season a monumental one for Boswell.
If Boswell can return to his pre-2022 form as one of the best kickers in the NFL, Pittsburgh will be in great shape and should feel confident late in games when No. 9 hits the field looking to add a critical three points off his right foot. If not, the Steelers could be in for a long season without a reliable kicking game paired with the style of football they want to play, and Boswell could be out of a job.
Hopefully, Boswell’s 2023 mirrors his 2019 season. He responded to struggles the previous year by converting 93.5 percent of his field goals, helping the Steelers win a number of ugly games to finish 8-8 after quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was hurt early in Week Two.
