Despite missing all of last season with a foot injury, Calvin Austin III believes there was value in his rookie campaign.
“I’m so much more mentally prepared coming to this camp as far as reading defenses, knowing the plays,” Austin told Steelers.com after practice Sunday at training camp in Latrobe.
The explosive wide receiver out of the University of Memphis said he improved “in all aspects of the game” after missing the injury by tightening up simple things such as route-running and playbook knowledge.
“Last year I was trying to fix up, clean up how to run the seam route,” Austin said. “Now I’m going to the X, Y, Z. I’m just not starting with the ABCs of things.”
Most interesting from the speedster’s answer, however, was how his preparation has positioned him to be moved around and used in various ways.
This movable chess-piece style of football has been apparent throughout Steelers practices thus far in camp. Patrick Peterson, Kendrick Green, Anthony McFarland Jr., and more have seen reps at different positions as the team seems to be embracing a positionless football approach that is taking hold in the NFL.
Austin may be the most intriguing name to be featured in a positionless offense. Drafted as a deep threat with blazing 4.32 speed, moving the 24-year-old into different alignments featuring advantageous matchups will help the team put stress on defenses.
This would be a welcome addition for a team that sorely lacked big plays a season ago. In college, Austin thrived as a highlight factory, racking up 1,149 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, averaging 15.5 yards per catch. With the addition of Allen Robinson II to handle most of the grunt work in the slot, Austin projects as a fluid offensive weapon who should be featured in the Steelers offense.
If Austin tightened up the nuances of his game both mentally and physically while recovering from his offseason surgery, the Steelers may be adding a top playmaker to their already strong core of skill-position players.
