Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: WR Calvin Austin III
Experience: 3 Years
Should WR Calvin Austin III or TE Darnell Washington be considered the Steelers’ 11th starter on offense? They both played very similar snap counts last season, so it’s hard to say. But today’s game is too diverse always to have 11 clearly defined starters.
Still, I go with snap count as the tiebreaker, and Austin played just a hair more than Washington. That means he goes first, logging 593 snaps along the way. The Steelers’ former 2022 fourth-round pick came into his own this season and deserves the attention.
First, let’s start with some numbers. During the 2024 season, Calvin Austin III caught 36 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 15.2 yards per reception, with an impressive catch percentage given his average target depth. Despite facing a target on average 12.6 yards down the field, Austin still caught 62.1 percent of them. He did have some drops, but not at an egregious pace by any means.
Of course, Austin isn’t just a wide receiver but also the Steelers’ punt returner. On the season, he returned 28 punts, gaining 289 yards. That included a 73-yard punt return touchdown, the first of his NFL career. He failed to keep up the pace after his return touchdown, but he proved he is a legitimate threat.
The Steelers missed out on Austin’s rookie season due to a foot injury back in 2022. The following year, he was trying to carve out a niche, but he had his moments. To this day, his 72-yard touchdown catch remains a highlight, though his punt return score is up there, too.
Still, the question remains: what precisely is his role? I don’t think many put Calvin Austin III in the conversation as a No. 2 receiver, but there is debate about the third receiver role. While he has speed to burn, he is short, with a small catch radius. His inherent attributes limit what he can do and what the Steelers can do with him.
Is he best suited as a highly effective rotational fourth receiver, or can he be more than that? Austin did come up with some big plays in key moments for the Steelers, but on a play-to-play basis, does he give them what they need for someone playing 600 snaps? If not, they better add a couple of wide receivers this offseason. Three if they have aspirations to trade George Pickens.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
