The Pittsburgh Steelers’ kick return department hasn’t exactly been inspiring over the last decade, as the team has struggled to make a consistent splash on special teams when it comes to explosive returns. They did rank seventh in the league in total kick return yardage as a team in 2023 with 565 yards on 24 kick returns, but they were one of the 29 teams that didn’t score a kick return touchdown last season.
The NFL’s previous kickoff setup and rules made it difficult for returners to go the distance, let alone field a kick that they could make into a notable return, as kickers would pound the ball through the end zone for touchbacks regularly. However, that appears to be changing in 2024 with the new kickoff structure coming into effect this season.
Touchbacks will be taken out to the 30-yard line, and the kickoff line will be lining up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line, with the kick return coverage being just 5-10 yards away from them. No fair catches will be allowed by the returners, making the kick return aspect of the game more exciting than it has been in some time, hopefully leading to more explosive returns league-wide.
Pittsburgh saw the potential to make more of an impact in the kick return aspect of the game and quickly signed kick return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson back in March, landing them one of the most prolific kick returners in NFL history. He’s getting long in the tooth at 33 years old and may have his best days as an offensive weapon and return specialist behind him, but he does still have a good combination of size and juice, as well as the resume with 273 kick returns for 7,989 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 seasons.
Cordarrelle Patterson will likely be Pittsburgh’s lead return man in 2024, along with one of WRs Quez Watkins and Calvin Austin III. Patterson will be attempting to improve Pittsburgh’s kick return game with with the addition of the new kickoff format to create more explosive return as well as do something this unit hasn’t accomplished the last six seasons: score a touchdown.
The last Pittsburgh Steeler to score a kick return touchdown was WR JuJu Smith-Schuster back in 2017 during his rookie season. The play took place during the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Pittsburgh won 28-24 while sitting plenty of their prominent starters on offense to rest for the playoffs. With 10:54 left in the third quarter, Smith-Schuster fielded the kickoff and returned it 96 yards to the house, breaking the tie and putting Pittsburgh on top 28-21 as Cleveland would lose the game and drop to 0-16 on the season.
Cordarrelle Patterson will look to break that six-year drought and keep it from extending to seven seasons in 2024, having scored a return touchdown as recent as in 2022 with the Atlanta Falcons, where he took one to the house in Week 11 against his former team in the Chicago Bears. Patterson appears to be optimistic that the kickoff structure will yield more explosive returns this season, and so is Pittsburgh as they look to have a new face score a kick return touchdown after Smith-Schuster did over a half-decade ago.
