Entering his third year in the NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers WR Calvin Austin III still has a lot to prove. After missing his rookie season due to injury, Austin’s real first season was last year. While he showed flashes, he was not consistent enough. Due to this, some are writing him off, but his teammate, DT Breiden Fehoko, is buying Austin’s stock for this season.
Fehoko was recently on ESPN 92.9 FM and praised Austin, saying he is very excited to see him in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense.
“Cal, and we talked about it, he is one of the fastest human beings I’ve seen since I’ve been in the NFL,” said Fehoko. “I mean, he is a great dude. Cal’s reserved, as you know. But man, I am so excited to see him in this new offense and what they’re able to do, and just unleash him. I mean, you talk about Tyreek Hill type of speed, Cal’s got that. He can take the top off a defense easily. Just look at the Raiders game and what we were able to do with him last year.”
Calvin Austin did not do much last season, catching only 27 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown. The one touchdown, though, was a beautiful deep shot from QB Kenny Pickett to Austin against the Las Vegas Raiders, as Fehoko mentioned. Unfortunately, the Steelers, partially due to quarterback play, could not utilize Austin’s game-breaking speed.
Now, though, Calvin Austin has either QB Russell Wilson or QB Justin Fields throwing him the football on Sundays, and they have much bigger arms than any of the three quarterbacks in Pittsburgh’s quarterback room last year. However, this alone will not make Austin break out. He has to get better hands, as he had one drop on 30 targets, and has to become a better route runner to get open. Austin has great straight-line speed, but that is not going to work on every play. NFL players are fast, too, and go routes cannot be the only route in your arsenal.
It will help Austin to have a new offensive coordinator. Last year, Matt Canada seemed to not know how to use him, and after Canada was fired, the playbook did not change much. Austin has to be more of a gadget player to be successful in the NFL, but Canada’s route concepts were simply not good and did not help Austin at all.
Going into his third year, it is really Calvin Austin’s second year. The Steelers have a hole at wide receiver due to the trade of WR Diontae Johnson earlier this offseason, so Austin has a big opportunity to stake his claim to being a big part of this offense. If he can, it will go a big way to helping the Steelers surpass their projected win total.
