Calvin Austin III is entering the third year of his contract, but it will really just be his second season playing after a foot injury robbed him of seeing the field as a rookie. Year 2 probably didn’t go as he expected, especially after 30 or more offensive snaps over the first five games of the season. He only got 20 or more snaps one time after that.
Austin discussed how he thought his Week 3 touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders was the beginning of his NFL breakout, but it obviously did not turn out that way. More recently, Austin discussed how he knew that play had a chance to be his first touchdown before it happened.
“When I heard the play being called, I was like, if we get the correct look at this, this gonna be six,” Austin said via The Irish Steelers Podcast during a recent trip to Ireland to promote football in the region. “The cornerback came up, pressed me, and then I beat him down the field. Looked up, and the ball was there and when I caught it, it was crazy, ‘cause obviously it was an away game, but to hear how loud the crowd got, you would’ve thought it was a home game. So that moment was very special.”
Here is the play that Austin is referring to, a 72-yard touchdown from Kenny Pickett to Austin who was lined up in the slot. The Raiders had nine defenders up near the line of scrimmage with a single-high safety. The corner was aligned to play press coverage up close to the line of scrimmage. Austin took one step to the outside to force Marcus Peters to shift weight to his outside foot before Austin crossed back inside and used his 4.32 speed to blow by the safety, who was cheating over towards George Pickens.
This was the first glimpse of what was envisioned for Austin when he was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. But that single play accounted for 40-percent of his total receiving yards last season. Matt Canada’s offensive system and Pickett’s quarterbacking could barely support two receivers in Diontae Johnson and Pickens, let alone get a third involved with consistent results.
Now, Austin has a golden opportunity to seize control of the WR2 job opposite Pickens for the 2024 season. He will be competing with rookie third-round pick Roman Wilson, veteran FA signing Van Jefferson and possibly some of the other recent additions for that job — assuming the Steelers don’t eventually take a big swing at the position via trade.
Reports have been very positive throughout spring practices with Austin’s commitment, leadership and on-field ability drawing rave reviews from his peers, coaches and the media. Given that Russell Wilson is best known for his pretty deep ball, a receiver with Austin’s speed could add an entirely new dimension to the offense that has been missing for quite some time.
