One training camp battle that we haven’t heard a lot about since the team reported to Latrobe is the competition between Pressley Harvin III and Braden Mann for the punter job. Harvin has been Pittsburgh’s punter the last two seasons, and while he showed some growth in 2022, he hasn’t exactly cemented himself as the long-term option for the team.
To push Harvin, the Steelers brought in Braden Mann earlier this spring. He has an NFL resume himself, playing the last three seasons with the New York Jets with an average 45.4 yards per punt for his NFL career.
When asked about the punt off that occurred today between Harvin and Mann, Tomlin mentioned that Pittsburgh has two guys that are skilled and are pushing each other every day for the job.
“Man, we punt off every day that we punt,” Tomlin said via video from Steelers.com. “We got two NFL-established, capable guys. I kid ’em ’cause they’re both Ray Guy Award winners, so it’s fun to watch those guys pit their skills against one another, but really, it’s a man versus himself battle. The ability to show consistency, the ability to directional punt the way that we desire, the ability to situational punt, red zone punting, touchbacks, the catastrophic analytically for example. And so those are some of the ways that we’re challenging those guys and we’ll continue.”
While often an overlooked position, the punter is critical in flipping the field and giving the defense good field position, forcing the opposing offenses to drive the length of the field. Therefore, Pittsburgh wanted to challenge Harvin by bringing in some proven competition for him in training camp to make him earn the job rather than having it handed to him.
Tomlin is taking all the factors of punting into equation. Mann has averaged more yards per punt than Harvin thus far in their respective NFL careers, but Harvin has placed more punts inside the 20 the last two seasons. Harvin has a lower touchback percentage and has a better net yards per punt, according to Pro Football Reference.
While the two may be competing against one another, Tomlin made a great point that each is competing against himself first. Ultimately, Harvin can’t control how well Mann punts and vice versa. The competition should only bring the best out of both guys, putting some in-game pressure on the table that both guys have to mentally work through. Both Mann and Harvin have proven that they can be productive punters, having both won the Ray Guy Award as the best collegiate punter in the nation. Now, it’s time to have that translate to the pros, seeing if the pressure makes diamonds for either punter.
