It wasn’t exactly the ideal way for Corliss Waitman to get another opportunity in the NFL, but the veteran punter is running with his opportunity in Pittsburgh following Cameron Johnston’s serious knee injury suffered in the season opener.
After Johnston went down in gruesome fashion late in the Week 1 win in Atlanta, the Steelers had to pivot quickly to find an answer at punter, and they turned to a familiar face in Waitman, signing the veteran to a two-year deal.
In two games with the Steelers, Corliss Waitman has answered the bell and has punted the football quite well for the Steelers. So well, in fact, that he earned some praise from special teams captain Miles Killebrew following yet another good showing from the punter.
Speaking to reporters Monday after the 20-10 win, Killebrew said that Corliss Waitman is “doing a great job” and is happy with his net punter performance in place of Johnston.
“Amazing. Amazing. He’s been doing a good job,” Killebrew said of Waitman, according to video via Steelers Live on Twitter. “I just talked to Cam [Johnston] today and we all joke together. It’s like a big family here. And Corliss has done a solid job. I think we net over 50 yards this last game, which is incredible. Anything over 40 is great.
“And the fact that he got it above 50 is amazing. He’s been doing a great job, and as you know, we’re doing a great job trying to protect him.”
There were some issues early in the season on special teams for the Steelers, primarily on punt coverage, where they simply couldn’t cover well enough to produce for Johnston’s big leg. They’ve tried a number of new faces at gunner in recent weeks, and on Sunday, they seemed to find a solid mix with James Pierre elevated from the practice squad.
In turn, Corliss Waitman averaged 50.3 net yards per punt on Sunday against the Chargers, which drew praise from Killebrew. In Week 2 in Denver, Waitman was at 41.9 net yards per punt. While a good number still, it doesn’t come close to the production he had on Sunday, and that’s incredibly encouraging.
So far, in his latest turn with the Steelers, Corliss Waitman is averaging 52.73 yards per punt on 11 punts in two games. That includes 53 yards per punt in Denver and then 52 yards per punt Sunday in Pittsburgh.
As Corliss Waitman continues to boom balls, the Steelers are getting better in the return game, which is helping out the net yards per punt in return. Hopefully, that number can continue to be rather strong for the Steelers moving forward, especially with how they want to play football, creating long fields for opposing defenses to try and traverse against an elite-level defense.
