This last week of mandatory minicamp for the Pittsburgh Steelers brought several overwhelmingly positive reports surrounding third-year WR Calvin Austin III. WR coach Zach Azzanni said he’s been outstanding, Justin Fields said he is “savage” with his route running, and now Roman Wilson offered up a different type of praise. He said Austin is emerging as a leader for the wide receiver group in Pittsburgh.
“Right now, the way I look at Calvin is he’s a veteran of the room. In my opinion, I feel like he’s more of the leader of the room,” Wilson said in a video posted by Post-Gazette Sports on YouTube. “He’s just a great guy, great teammate. I feel like I can talk to him. I feel like I can ask him questions. He asks me questions, and I just feel like he’s a great dude.”
Just last season, the Steelers appeared to have a leadership void on offense. Kenny Pickett was named the offensive captain, and in hindsight, that was probably too early for him to take over that type of responsibility. It looked especially bad once he was benched in favor of Mason Rudolph at the end of the season.
In the midst of the three-game losing streak in December, the question of leadership on offense kept coming up. Some of the players pointed to Najee Harris, Allen Robinson II, and Mason Cole as those guys. Two of them are no longer on the roster, and Harris is entering the final year of his contract after having his fifth-year option declined. Russell Wilson will help stabilize the leadership on offense, but it never hurts to have multiple guys who can fill that role.
In an episode of The Arthur Moats Experience with Deke podcast immediately following the 2023 season, Austin expressed just how thankful he was to have Robinson around.
“Really getting to be on the team with him, talk to him — I’ve gained a whole new outlook on being a player in this league,” Austin said. “I can literally just sit and talk and listen to A Rob for hours.”
It would appear that Robinson’s approach to being a teammate and a veteran in the room rubbed off on Austin, who is now being viewed as a leader himself.
Austin has now received praise by coaches, veteran players, and rookies on various different aspects of what he brings to the team. His actual on-field abilities, his hearts and smarts, and his work ethic all seem to have taken a step forward. While everybody is trying to figure out who the WR2 is in Pittsburgh, he could have been on the roster all along.
While this is his third season, Austin lost his entire rookie year to a foot injury. Last year, he showed some flashes, but the offensive system and quarterback were barely good enough to support the top two receivers, let alone utilize a third option with sufficient frequency and success. Back when Austin was drafted, a member of the Baltimore Ravens’ front office reportedly groaned in the war room as the Steelers selected him one pick before the Ravens planned on doing so. And then he drew some rave reports from national media members like Adam Schefter during training camp as a rookie.
The hype was crushed by the injury and the lack of success in 2023, but much of that was frankly out of Austin’s control. Now in a new offense, with a wide open WR2 job, and an upgraded quarterback, Austin could finally be due for that breakout season. He would certainly add a dimension of explosive speed that the Steelers haven’t had on offense in quite a while.
