The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed their need in the vacated punter room by signing Cameron Johnston after moving on from Pressley Harvin III. Johnston was a Houston Texan in 2023, his sixth NFL season, bringing a much-needed veteran presence and more consistent track record than the Steelers have had in quite some time.
Today I wanted to zoom in on Johnston’s 2023 season using my Steelers Punting Metrics I tally league-wide to close each season. The goal is to see how Johnston stacked up around the NFL, most specifically with Harvin, and see what that could mean for the 2024 season.
First, here’s a breakdown of the data:
- Punts (Att).
- Average Yard line (AYL) = ex. punt from Pittsburgh’s 20 = 80 yard line, Opponents 45 = 45 yard line).
- “Punt yards achieved” (PYA) = the new idea/metric, which is punt yards / yard line.
- Yards per attempt (YPA).
- Average NET yards (NET) = yards punted – return yards – (touchbacks x 20) / punts.
- 50+ rate (50+).
- Inside the 20 rate (in20).
- Inside the 10 rate (in 10).
- Returned rate (Ret).
- Yards Per Return (YPR).
- Fair Catch rate (FC).
- Touchback rate (TB).
- Average hangtime (HT).
Here are the full 2023 league results of 33 punters (for the die-hards), including green (best) and red (worst) marks of each stat, followed by a summarized table for Johnston and Harvin:
Where Harvin ranked stronger: attempts (78, seventh). Inside 20 punts (33, T-seventh). Inside 10 punts (14, T-14th). Ret (32.1, T-second). HT (4.39, ninth).
Where Johnston ranked stronger: AYL (64.7, 12th). PYA (71.0, 17th). YPA (47.7, 15th). NET (44.0, fifth). 50-plus punts (26, 19th). 50-plus rate (39.4, 19th). In20 (47.0, seventh). In10 (19.7, 21st). YPR (7.0, T-seventh). FC (37.9, fifth). TB (4.5, T-eighth).
Looking at where Harvin ranked best, we see most of his stronger marks came in quantity. The exceptions were Ret, limiting kick returns compared to his peers, and hangtime which play off of each other. The latter was one of Johnston’s lowest marks across these numbers, tying for 20th out of the 33 qualifying punters. That will be interesting to watch unfold in 2024, seeing if it’s a recurring theme with the black and gold.
Cameron Johnston also ranked 20th or lower on punts inside the ten, and in10. These extreme field flipping plays can obviously change the course of games, and hopefully can improve with the Steelers. Top ten marks included NET, inside 20 punts, in20, YPR, and TB. Att, AYL, PYA, YPA, 50-plus punts, 50+, and Ret all ranked in the teens, closer to league average.
Faring better than Harvin in the majority of the 2023 metrics is encouraging, and hopefully will carry over (or improve) for Johnston with Pittsburgh. So, the signing looks like a clear upgrade overall, and hope his presence can bring more consistent results than recent memory.
