Three years ago, in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers believed they were fixing their issues in the punting game, landing reigning Ray Guy Award winner Pressley Harvin III out of Georgia Tech.
Three years later, thanks to the inconsistencies from college carrying over to the NFL, the Steelers moved on from Harvin. On Monday, the Steelers released the former Georgia Tech punter, ending the three-year tenure and putting the Steelers in the market for a punter — again.
After spending a seventh-round pick on Harvin in 2021 and using a waiver claim on Braden Mann last offseason, getting no answer in the process, it’s time for the Steelers to seriously invest in the punter position in the draft.
No more late-round fliers, no more waiver claims, or bargain bin street free agents. Time to go big or go home.
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers should seriously consider spending one of their fourth-round picks (119th and 120th overall) on the punter position.
Many of you reading this probably just let out an expletive and are contemplating clicking out of this article. I get it. Spending a premium draft pick on a punter seems rather insane.
But look around the league in recent years. That’s the going rate for them. That fourth and fifth round is the sweet spot. Don’t believe me? Let’s go down the board in recent years.
In the 2023 NFL Draft, three punters were drafted. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Brad Robbins in the sixth round, the New England Patriots drafted Bryce Baringer in the sixth round, and the Los Angeles Rams drafted Ethan Evans in the seventh round. In 2022, the Baltimore Ravens grabbed Penn State punter Jordan Stout in the fourth round, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed up one pick later with Georgia’s Jake Camarda in the fourth round.
Punters Matt Araiza and Trenton Gill went in the sixth and seventh rounds, too. In 2019, Mitch Wishnowsky went in the fourth round to the San Francisco 49ers, while Jake Bailey went to the Patriots in the fifth round. The 2018 NFL Draft was more of the same. J.K. Scott, Johnny Townsend, and Michael Dickson all went in the fifth round. The 2015 NFL Draft saw Bradley Pinion go off the board in the fifth round, too.
More often than not, some of the best punters in the NFL are acquired via the draft and with premium picks that aren’t late Day 3 moves.
That leads to the 2024 NFL Draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a hole at punter, names like Iowa’s Tory Taylor and BYU’s Ryan Rehkow have to be on the radar, Taylor specifically.
On a team built around a high-priced defense and an offense that is going to run the ball quite a bit, the team needs a punter who can flip the field, pin the opponent deep, and set up the defense in an advantageous field position. Too often, Harvin couldn’t do that for the Steelers.
Of course, the case could be made to chase the likes of Tommy Townsend, Corey Bojorquez, Rigoberto Sanchez, or even Araiza, now that he’s been fully cleared of any wrongdoing in his case, in free agency. But Taylor might be better than them all, even if he will be 26 years old entering the draft. Age doesn’t matter much for punters, period.
The man just knows how to punt, and he’s part of the Australian wave that seems to be taking over the punting game in the NFL.
While at Iowa, Taylor was dominant. He had to be, too, as Iowa’s offense was, well, offensive. With the Hawkeyes, Taylor averaged 46.3 yards per punt on 295 punts for 13,657 yards. Shockingly, 103 of those punts went 50+ yards in college. Taylor also set the NCAA 85-year-old single-season yardage record, recording 4,479 yards on 93 punts in 2023. On top of all that, his 2023 average of 48.2 and his career average of 46.3 also set NCAA records.
The fourth round might be a bit too rich for some when it comes to the punting position, but it is a starting position and is a glaring hole for the Steelers, one that’s been a big one for quite a long time. Taylor is an absolute weapon. Spending a premium draft pick in the top 125 on him shouldn’t be scoffed at.
