As preseason closes, competitions endure for Steelers at punter/holder, long snapper

The life of a specialist in the NFL, from afar, can look like a lonely one.

It’s not uncommon throughout a training camp or regular-season practice that you’ll see anywhere from 4-8 dozen players gathered on one field, spiritedly going at one another on offense and defense.

On an adjacent field, then, are the kicker, punter and long snapper. Sometimes, working on their craft. Sometimes, sitting in seeming boredom.

Chris Boswell doesn’t yet know the identity of the two men he will spend much of his time on the clock with this season.

The seven-year veteran has locked up the gig as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ kicker. But the identity of the punter and snapper are not yet sewn up, at least not formally.

“Whatever they pick or whoever they roll with, I have no doubt a snapper and a punter is going to go somewhere else and play,” Boswell said. “Because we have four great guys here right now.”

Boswell believes that both Jordan Berry and Pressley Harvin III are NFL-caliber punters and that both Kameron Canaday and Christian Kuntz are pro-level snappers.

For Berry (six NFL seasons) and Canaday (4 ½), that’s a given. Each has proven he can play in the NFL.

The men pushing them for their jobs don’t have that yet — but that doesn’t mean each isn’t being given a shot to unseat the veterans. In fact, a case could be made that Harvin and Kuntz are the favorites for their coveted gigs.

Harvin certainly is. He was the only punter drafted, won the Ray Guy Award as college football’s best punter last season and has put on a show in camp booming kicks with his leg strength.

Kuntz, too, must be impressing somebody in the organization. An alumnus of Chartiers Valley and Duquesne, this is Kuntz’s third training camp with the Steelers. He, too, spent time in 2017-18 as property of three other NFL teams.

“We have two great caliber snappers and two great punters and holders,” Boswell said after Wednesday’s practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I am fortunate enough to get to work with all of them and take reps with each of them. Reps (in practice) are split 50/50.

“Both of them are great and both of them are doing a really good job. It’s just about getting comfortable with each guy and just building confidence. That’s really it.”

“I always get that question: ‘What do you play,’” Pressley Harvin III says. “People try to guess. It’s always a d-lineman or fullback or halfback. When I tell them I’m a punter, they are kind of astonished.” https://t.co/MzIpEMk37E

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 15, 2021

Kuntz has focused solely on snapping for the past two years after he’d played some edger rusher on defense early in his career while trying to stick in the NFL. The Steelers had Kuntz on their practice squad at points during last year’s regular season.

He’s trying to unseat Canaday, who during the 2017 camp upset a draft pick, Colin Holba, in a competition to replace 12-year Steelers long snapper Greg Warren. Canaday prevailed and has held the gig without interruption ever since.

“When they called me, obviously, I was ecstatic,” Christian Kuntz said Saturday. “I’ll do whatever they ask me to do: long snap, linebacker, other special teams. It doesn’t matter.” https://t.co/geqjitFPys

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) March 28, 2020

This preseason, though, it’s been apparent the Steelers are taking a long look at Kuntz. Kuntz has taken 16 of the game long snaps, according to the NFL’s official game stat books; Canaday has taken seven.

At punter, Harvin has punted five times and held for 11 placekicks; Berry has four punts and three holds.

Of course, Berry and Canaday are known quantities, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the younger players are getting more of a look. Perhaps the “snap counts” aren’t worth looking into.

But maybe, the incumbents should be worried. Friday’s preseason finale at the Carolina Panthers is the final chance for any of the contestants to make their case. Final cuts come next week.

Special teams coordinator Danny Smith emphasized that a player’s draft-pick status or experience level alone won’t be factored into the decision.

“We’re going to keep the best guy,” Smith said. “Those are the teams that win, the teams that do that. We don’t keep guys on a hope and a prayer or a wish. We’re going to keep the best guy.”

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