The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted speedster Calvin Austin III in the fourth round today. He's the second receiver they have taken during the 2022 NFL Draft. The other being Georgia star George Pickens in the second round. The Steelers appear to believe that their defense has enough talent, and that their offensive line will be much improved with their free agent additions. Surrounding Mitchell Trubisky, or Kenny Pickett with more talent seems to be their prerogative.
Now when you saw on social media that the Steelers selected Austin you probably quickly went to your favorite location for Steelers news (SteelerNation.com) or hopped Google and threw his name in there. Your first through was likely the same as many other fans.
"The Steelers drafted a 5'8 receiver!?"
Then you realized that he had elite speed. Then you realized that he's a student of the game who puts in tons of work in the film room to get that competitive advantage. It's at that point you should've realized the Steelers didn't just draft a short receiver with limited abilities. But someone that could use the tools he's been given to become a standout at the next level.
“When you are a 5’8” guy, can you go up and attack the football?” Steelers new receivers coach Frisman Jackson said today during his press conference. “Can you go attack the ball in the air or do you sit down and wait for it. He goes and attacks the ball in the air. Those combat catches, 50/50 balls, he goes and makes those plays. He plays like a guy that’s 6’1”, 6’2” as far as when he jumps and attacks the football.”
Local reporters asked Jackson if the thought was for Austin to fulfill the jet sweep role that offensive coordinator Matt Canada loves to utilize in his offense.
“Not just for the jet sweeps, some of the stuff he did down the field running by people and catching balls down the field is what excited me,” Jackson said. “You saw a small guy that was 5’8”, but didn’t play 5’8”. He played bigger than his size listed. Just his whole game excited as a coaching staff.”
A lot of people instantly think slot when you see 5'8, but Austin only played a limited number of snaps at Memphis in the slot. He's able to work from the outside to the inside in zone coverage. And once the ball is in his hand in space you're not likely to catch him.
“We are excited to get him on board. We think he adds a different dimension to our offense with his perimeter ability and his ability in the slot to make some plays for us. I can’t wait to get him here and get to coaching him.”
If you read our earlier story on Austin then you've seen this chart already. For those who haven't according to their Relative Athletic Scores — a metric that provides tools to contrast and compare player’s known measurables — Tyree Hill and Austin are very similar as athetes.
Below is a graphic of Hill and Austin's results from their combine performances.
Combine Performance
The NFL Draft Network wrote a story earlier this off-season posing the question of whether the Kansas City Chiefs would try to replace Hill with Austin. But the Chiefs didn't show much interest in Austin and ultimately selected Skyy Moore one pick after the Steelers selected George Pickens yesterday.
If the Steelers get half the player as Hill in Austin, then they will have stolen one in the fourth round. We can only hope.
