The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: How much exposure is too much in the return game for WR Calvin Austin III?
I think it’s safe to say that Austin showed during the preseason he is the Steelers’ best punt returner. It’s a given that he will have that job to start the season. But he’s also listed as the first-team kick returner, at least up to this point—no final depth chart has been issued yet.
Will he be the starting kick returner in the season opener? He did not have the opportunity to return any kicks during the preseason, which is pretty significant. It’s not something that he did in college, and returning kicks is not the same thing as returning punts.
Beyond that, he’s about my size and I’m not an NFL athlete. I’m not sure how many returns I could handle per game right now, especially with my back. Okay, I’m also not quite as fast as Austin, so I’ll give him that.
But there has to be some degree of caution with respect to exposure here. The Steelers have a history of pulling return men as they take on increased importance, most notably Antonio Brown and Diontae Johnson in recent years.
Austin is not incredibly important on offense right now, and I don’t necessarily think he will have such a big role by the end of the season that they would be compelled to pull him for that reason. But how many hits are they willing to expose him and his 5-9, 162-pound frame to?
The Steelers gave Johnon the opportunity to keep his punt return job in 2020 after earning All-Pro honors. Then he took a hit on a return early in the season and never returned another punt again since then.
Opinions will vary on this subject. Austin is by far the Steelers’ most dangerous option in the return game. His offensive workload is not too much for him to be expected to handle. But he’s a small guy with an injury history, and no history of returning kicks in the first place. Meanwhile, they have a former All-Pro kick returner on the roster in Gunner Olszewski. Will he return kicks while Austin handles punts?
