Logically, it should be pretty tough to get excited about a fourth-round wide receiver who missed all of their rookie year due to an injury and only tallied 180 yards last season. But Calvin Austin III is different.
Look at the Steelers receivers behind George Pickens. Quez Watkins, Van Jefferson, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller. If you were Calvin Austin, would any of those names instill particular fear in you? Sure, they are solid depth pieces, but it’s about as wide-open of a WR2 battle as there is in the league.
And of those guys, Austin’s speed is probably the biggest single skill possessed by any of them. He’s always been an absolute burner and can help, in that sense, take some heat off of George Pickens, who likely is due for a ton of defensive attention this season.
But Austin isn’t just a speed guy anymore. As Justin Fields shared on day 2 of mandatory minicamp, in video provided by the team, he’s been working on other aspects of his game as well.
“He can create a lot of space in small spaces.” Fields said. “He’s quick, savage with his route running and he’s just a hard worker. There are some plays where he knows he’s not getting the ball, and he’s still winning the route. To have a player like that give that much effort on the field every play is really good to see. I think it’s gonna rub off on the other guys too.”
This is as close to a make-or-break year as I think it can get for Calvin Austin in the NFL. Realistically, this is the most wide-open shot he will have at touches, at least until he establishes himself. The rapport he is building with Fields, and hopefully Wilson as well, could be huge for him.
The key for Austin, in my opinion, is to become more than just a burner. He’s not big enough to be a huge factor in the blocking game, though he does show good effort there. The route running piece, which Fields praised him on, will be key for him this season to see the field.
Outside of Roman Wilson, the other names in the wide receiver room are pretty known veteran commodities. There isn’t a ton of untapped potential in Jefferson, Watkins, or Miller. All that means for Calvin Austin, then, is that he knows where the bar to entry is, or at least where it should be. I think his range of outcomes is wider than most people think. It doesn’t feel crazy for him to be second on the team in receiving yards, and it doesn’t feel crazy for him to be worse than he was last year. But he has to know this is his golden moment.
