We know what the Pittsburgh Steelers thought of Calvin Austin III coming out of college because they made him their fourth-round pick. Reports also indicated at the time that the Baltimore Ravens were high on him with audible groans in their draft war room when the Steelers took him one slot ahead of them. We can now also add the Atlanta Falcons to the mix of teams that were after the speedy WR’s services.
“We wanted to potentially draft him when I was in Atlanta and then obviously Pittsburgh took him,” OC Arthur Smith said Wednesday of Calvin Austin in a video posted by TribLive’s Chris Adamski on X. “I was excited when I got here, just an opportunity to work with him.”
While Van Jefferson was billed as the WR2 coming into the season, Austin has proven to be the biggest threat in the wide receiver room outside of George Pickens. He’s played in all 14 games this season with 28 receptions on 47 targets for 452 yards and four touchdowns. This is by far the best season of his three-year career.
He lost his entire rookie season to a foot injury and then the 2023 offense was barely able to support Pickens and Diontae Johnson, let alone a third receiving option.
With Pickens out against the Eagles, Austin played 81 percent of the Steelers’ offensive snaps. That is the highest share of the snaps this season and the second highest of his career. He caught all five targets for 65 yards as one of the lone bright spots on offense for the Steelers.
He was also one of the two Steelers penalized for the scrum in the back of the end zone early in the game between Darnell Washington and Darius Slay. Don’t ask me how the smallest player on either team was penalized while Eagles players throwing punches were not.
“I knew Calvin was tough. He’s from Memphis,” Smith said of sharing a hometown with Austin. “A little partial to him but knew that coming out — a lot about him. Being from Memphis myself and my brother playing in that program, it doesn’t surprise me when you’re wired like he is.”
Austin has taken the next step as a player on the field, but it also sounds like he’s taken the next step as a leader as well. Rookie WR Roman Wilson pointed to him as the leader of the room during the offseason.
It’s been a big year for Austin, but it still feels like there is more meat on that bone and that there are bigger and better things still ahead of him. When Pickens is back, I wouldn’t be surprised if Austin’s snap count remained higher as basically the Steelers’ unquestioned WR2 at this point.
