The Pittsburgh Steelers had to wait a year for Calvin Austin III to show what he can do in practice, as he missed some of 2022 training camp, as well as the entire preseason and regular season due to injuries. Even when he was healthy for camp, he was overshadowed by George Pickens making highlight-reel catches on a regular basis. However, there is still plenty of hope for the former 2022 fourth-round pick to blossom into a key contributor for the team, even if he has to work his way up.
Austin is expected to start camp as the starting return man while competing with Anthony Miller and Gunner Olszewski. Miller also suffered a season-ending injury in 2022 training camp, but his veteran presence could give him a slight edge over Austin.
Austin and Miller will also be competing for snaps at the slot receiver position. Matt Canada's love for jet sweeps should give both players more touches. The Steelers do love having slot corners play as blockers, but Austin's small frame might keep him off the field in run situations. Either way, iron sharpens iron, and the competition between him and Miller should make both players into better receivers at the end of the day.
There are also the obvious traits of Austin. The word "undersized" has never meant much to the Steelers and they will let his athleticism and knowledge do all the talking. With pure athleticism, he matches up similarly to Tyreek Hill. The key differences between the two are weight and bench press reps. If those two were factored out of the equation, Austin's Relative Athletic Score would be even closer Hill's.
Austin's 4.32 40-yard time is nothing to scoff at as he has the ability to burn corners. He did that on the outside a lot while in college and it might be easier to do so while playing in the slot role. It should also help to have that "redshirt year" as Omar Khan called it, so he could learn the playbook and be more prepared for the 2023 season.
There have been concerns about Austin's ability versus press coverage, but he likely won't see a lot of that while playing in the slot. Even if he was playing on the outside, there would still be plenty of hope for him.
Elite Cornerback Gives The Steelers' Prospect Plenty Of Respect
Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner had an elite rookie campaign with the New York Jets and won Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 2022 season. Even with him being potentially the top cornerback in the NFL, he still has his struggles, like any other player would. During rounds of interviews in the draft process and after being drafted, he kept bringing up Austin as the toughest receiver he ever faced in college.
"I wasn't used to guarding smaller guys, but he gave me a reality check."
Even though Gardner played for the Cincinnati Bearcats as opposed to a Power Five school, he still had to go up against the elite receiving core of the Alabama Crimson Tide at one point. He did name former Alabama star Jameson Williams as one of the top receivers he's faced, but he faced nobody that gave him nearly as tough of a time as Austin.
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