On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke to the media, previewing the team’s upcoming matchup in their preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night.
During the press conference, Tomlin was asked about how Pittsburgh will address kickoff returns given the recent rule change allowing all fair catches to be brought out to the 25-yard line.
“You know, we probably are more interested in seeing people play,” Tomlin said on video from the team’s YouTube channel. “Returners return and blockers block than we are addressing the intellectual component of the rule change. Man, we got three games. Kickers are putting the ball through the end zone. I think that, you know, our mentality is gonna be any time we get an opportunity to return a kick, we will, because we just wanna see the capabilities of the 11 on the grass in the kickoff return unit.”
It appears that Tomlin doesn’t want to use the advantage of the new rule change to advance the ball to the 25-yard line, at least in preseason action. It makes sense as you lose valuable reps for your return men to field live kickoffs with an opposing kickoff team flying down to prevent a big return. The same goes for the blockers on kickoff return, having the opportunity to properly communicate and execute their drops and get bodies on the coverage team in hopes of springing a big return.
For the likes of WRs Calvin Austin III and Gunner Olszewski, allowing them to return a couple kicks in the preseason is huge to making the decision on who Pittsburgh’s lead return man should be in the regular season. Olszewski struggled last season after playing at an All-Pro level in 2020, and is looking for redemption as a fringe player on the roster. Austin, meanwhile, is attempting to show the Steelers that he can impact the game on special teams as well as on offense with his speed and explosiveness, having been a viable punt returner during his time at Memphis.
Seeing as that Austin has never returned a kickoff at the college or professional level, it’s imperative that he gets an opportunity to do so in the preseason. That way, the Steelers can decide if they want to roll with Austin as their primary kick and punt returner or decide that he isn’t quite ready for the job and keep Olszewski or someone else around to be the team’s primary return man. The only way to make that decision confidently is with live reps, and that’s what Tomlin is looking to see in preseason play.
