For Calvin Austin III, 2023 was a rookie season do-over. He injured his foot before the team’s first preseason game in 2022 and spent the season on the Reserve/Injured List. He was pretty involved in the offense for the first half of the 2023 season, especially while WR Diontae Johnson was out with a hamstring injury, but his usage trailed off as the season wore on.
He ended up with 17 receptions on 30 targets for 180 yards and a touchdown, and another 11 rushing attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown in the regular season. He also added one reception for seven yards and a touchdown in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Bills.
For his efforts in 2023, his teammates voted him the Ed Block Courage Award recipient to represent the team for the season. He appeared on The Ed Block CourageCast on Wednesday evening to discuss winning the award, and he was asked about the most memorable moment of his 2023 season.
“I would probably say that rushing [touchdown],” Austin said of his play against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16. “On that play, too, our running back, Jaylen Warren, crushed a guy. It was just that whole moment. At that point in our season, it had been rough, so just for him to lead block around the way, Pat Freiermuth had a good block on that play, and I just feel like that was just a great team play.”
“And to make it even better, my mom, dad, and my four sisters were all there, too,” Austin said. “Being able to score in front of them was just a very special moment.”
The play he is referring to was a jet sweep near the goal line with Warren leading the way, decleating LB Germaine Pratt to clear the way for Austin’s touchdown. Freiermuth also did a nice job to kick out CB Mike Hilton. It was perfectly executed, and Austin’s speed with the ball in his hands took care of the rest.
That game was QB Mason Rudolph’s first start of the season, and the team’s first win after a brutal three-game losing streak that put its playoff chances in danger. Austin’s touchdown put the Steelers up 14-0 as they went on to win, 34-11, to begin their three-game win streak and secure a spot in the playoffs.
In the heat of the moment, Austin didn’t even realize what happened on the play.
“Afterwards, that’s what everybody like my teammates were saying, they was like, ‘Did you see Jaylen block?’ I’m like, ‘No, I was trying to score, I didn’t see it,” Austin said. “But then when I looked back at it, I was like, I see why he’s getting all that attention. ‘Cause he took the dude, a linebacker, off his feet. You don’t see that happen too many times.”
It will be interesting to see how Austin is utilized in the 2024 season. He is listed at 5-9, 162 pounds, and OC Arthur Smith’s offensive system tends to favor bigger receivers who can be more physical and help block on the perimeter. With Johnson traded away, and Allen Robinson II no longer on the team, there is an opportunity for him to see a larger role, but the team is also likely to select a receiver in one of the early rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. If his role doesn’t increase this season for the Steelers, he would be entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2025 without much of an opportunity to show his value.
Smith’s offense has historically only featured two wide receiver sets, Smith opting to use extra tight ends or a fullback instead, so Austin will have a competition ahead of him with whomever the Steelers select in the draft for the snaps opposite George Pickens.
