In a mild upset, the Pittsburgh Steelers did not activate RB Anthony McFarland Jr. off injured reserve Saturday, meaning he won’t dress in today’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Add in the releases of CB Desmond King (which made everyone mad) and WR Gunner Olszewski (which made everyone happy), and there is one spot on the team’s depth chart looking uncertain. The team’s starting kick returner.
In fairness, kick returner might be the least valuable and relevant starting job in football. With kickers legs stronger than ever, touchbacks are more frequent. And the NFL is actively looking to minimize the number of returns with a wave of rule changes, the fair catch clause being the most frequent, though we probably won’t see it on a regular basis until the weather gets bad later this year. Still, the team who averages the *most* kick returns per game are the Green Bay Packers at two. Compare that to a decade ago when the most active team were the the Chicago Bears, averaging more than four per game and only five teams in the entire NFL had fewer than two runbacks per contest.
This year, three teams, the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Chargers, have only returned two kicks all year long. Point is, kick returns by design aren’t really a thing and don’t require the mental calories they once did in determining a team’s starter and backup. Still, somebody has to be back there, even if it is to watch a football sail over their head. So who could it be? There are a couple of options.
RB Godwin Igwebuike – The most likely and logical option. Though inactive since being signed off the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad, there’s a good chance he’ll dress today. Pittsburgh’s rolling with only a 52-man roster, meaning they only need to make four players inactive (so long as they dress eight o-linemen, which they will) and Igwebuike should dress. He has NFL return experience with 39 career runbacks and a decent 25.8 yard average. He may not see a snap on offense but he should be able to occupy this role.
WR Calvin Austin III – Many fans might think of Austin as the team’s first choice to return kicks. Understandably so. He’s the team’s starting punt returner and his speed is exciting if he can build up a runway. It’s certainly possible the team could turn to him as their returner, especially if Igwebuike is inactive once again.
The issue is he’s basically never done it inside a stadium. Zero NFL kick returns (though this is essentially his first year) and also zero in college at Memphis. He handled some punt returns but no kicks. So this would be new for him. Not impossible to go do, especially if he’s instructed to only return kicks in the field of play, but it’s an important caveat. Pittsburgh has avoided using Austin in that capacity even with McFarland out, though you could argue that was partially because of his increased role filling in for WR Diontae Johnson.
Someone Else – Is there a wild card? A surprise name they could trot out there. How about CB Patrick Peterson, a great return man late in college and early in the NFL. He’s mostly handled punts and his speed is pretty much gone but there’s experience. RB Jaylen Warren shouldn’t be excluded either. He’s never fielded kicks in a game but has a can-do attitude and Pittsburgh loves putting burly backs on kicks. Najeh Davenport, Gary Russell, Terrell Watson, Carey Davis (!!). It’s doubtful but probably on the table.
