In Week 3 of the 2023 season on Sunday Night Football, second-year Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Calvin Austin III appeared to have his breakthrough moment in the NFL finally.
Austin, who missed his entire rookie season due to a foot injury, was healthy and back on the field early on in 2023. Right away, in the road win against the Las Vegas Raiders, he made his presence felt.
In the third offensive drive of the game for the Steelers on a 3rd and seven from the Pittsburgh 28-yard-line, Austin ran deep down the middle of the field, hauled in a bomb from quarterback Kenny Pickett, and raced home untouched for a 72-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with 6:12 left in the first quarter.
After hitting on some deep balls in the preseason, Austin came through when the games counted, getting on the board in the NFL.
For the former Memphis standout, that was the moment he believed was his breakthrough in the NFL. Ultimately, it turned out not to be.
“I mean, I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. It felt like it was almost a coming-out party. I finally got to go deep,” Austin said to reporters Tuesday, according to video via Steelers.com. “But, then things happened.”
The Steelers answer as Kenny Pickett and Calvin Austin connect for a 72-yard TD pass.
Austin didn’t seem to have much difficultly sprinting past the Raiders secondary. pic.twitter.com/FwmQkFbKgw
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 25, 2023
Following that game against the Raiders in which Calvin Austin finished with two catches for 72 yards — all of which came on his touchdown — the second-year receiver wasn’t used much offensively. From Week 4-18 in the regular season, Austin had just eight receptions for 53 yards and had ten carries for 59 yards, scoring a touchdown in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
He was targeted as a receiver just 14 times in the final 14 games of the season, which is eye-opening, considering the Steelers drafted that guy to take the top off of a defense throughout the season and never really utilized him.
To Calvin Austin’s credit, he saw two targets in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills and had a 7-yard touchdown. However, after the game against the Raiders in which he showed he could win deep, the Steelers never really went back to him, outside of a deep shot in the Week 9 win over the Tennessee Titans that was intercepted and a deep shot against the Bengals in Week 16 that was broken up.
“I don’t really know too much [what happened]. Just football, you know? It’s a lot of ups and downs of a season, and it’s just about staying even-keeled,” Austin said regarding the ups and downs after the Raiders game. “We was just trying to win games, and we were game-planning to try to do that. …So sometimes the ball may not find your way as much.”
The ball really didn’t find him throughout the rest of the season after the Raiders game, which was rather disappointing, especially considering his speed and home run abilities at the receiver position.
The Steelers desperately needed someone to keep defenses honest, loosen up the box against the run game, and make some splash plays. They had that guy in Austin; they just didn’t utilize him as much.
Now, entering Year 3 with Arthur Smith calling the shots offensively, Calvin Austin III hopes he has a larger role as a receiver in Pittsburgh, taking the top off of defenses and truly having that breakout season.
