After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Friday night, we got to witness first-hand what WR Calvin Austin III can bring to the table. Austin made the highlight play of the game offensively for Pittsburgh. Running a go route right past the defensive back in coverage along the sideline, he hauled in a 67-yard touchdown pass from QB Mason Rudolph.
Austin displayed the element of deep speed that Pittsburgh hasn’t had in some time in its wide receiver corps. Talking on the All Things Covered podcast, former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden and current Steelers CB Patrick Peterson talked about Austin and the speed dynamic he brings to the offense. McFadden compared Austin to a former Steelers speed demon at wide receiver.
“We haven’t had speed like this since Mike Wallace and I played with Mike Wallace, and boy, you know how fast Mike Wallace was,” McFadden said on All Things Covered, which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “So, I’m excited to see exactly how they continue to incorporate Calvin into our offense because man, listen, that speed right there; you’ve gotta put [him] on the football field. You gotta get him out there.”
Wallace was one of my childhood favorite Steelers and Pittsburgh’s go-to deep threat from 2009-2012, racking up 235 receptions for 4,042 yards (17.2 YPR) and 32 TDs during his four years in the Black and Gold. Wallace had the speed to run past defensive backs, clocking in with a 4.33 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine while being a football and track star in high school.
Austin has a similar background to Wallace, having been a football and track athlete in high school as well as during his time at Memphis. Austin ripped off a 4.32 40 at the Combine during the pre-draft process and also was a deep threat in college. He had the speed and burst to pull away from defenders tasked with covering him and stretch the field vertically for big chuck plays.
The Steelers have desperately needed that deep speed in their wide receiver corps the last several years, lacking that pure deep threat since WR Martavis Bryant was still with the team. It appears that they may have found their answer in Austin, who flashed in a big way in his NFL debut. That speed will continue to get him on the field, giving him opportunities to impact the game as a deep treat as well as after the catch in space.
