Breaking down the 2020 Steelers: The special teams

Here is a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 special teams:

(Italics denotes player is on the practice squad) 

Starters: Chris Boswell, Dustin Colquitt, Kameron Canaday

Others: Corliss Waitman

Breakdown: For the first time since 2014, the Steelers enter a regular season with someone other than Jordan Berry as their punter. Berry was adequate, and he brought stability to a position that experienced almost-annual turnover over the prior decade. But Berry also frustrated coaches with his occasional botched punts, and his stat line typically ranged on a spectrum between mediocre, average and below average. So after years of camp competitions and veterans brought in for tryouts, the Steelers finally pulled the proverbial trigger on replacing Berry. They did it with a 16-year veteran in Colquitt, the son of a Super Bowl-winning Steelers punter. The hope is he will provide more consistency — and don’t forget the holder duties in that. Colquitt is 38, meaning Waitman is likely the punter-in-waiting. A strong-legged lefty, Waitman has all the tools, enough so that the Steelers took the unprecedented step of using a practice-squad spot on him. The addition of six spots to the practice squad in 2020 surely played a role in that decision, but a new rule allowing two “call-ups” from the practice squad per week perhaps might compel the Steelers to consider activating Waitman to be a kickoff specialist for games.

After spending the first 15 seasons of his NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs, Dustin Colquitt practiced with the Steelers for the first time Wednesday.https://t.co/kIRuLzrXGm

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 9, 2020

At kicker, Boswell recovered from a nightmarish 2018 to re-establish himself as one of the league’s most reliable at his position. Unlike all the uncertainty regarding his standing with the team that surrounded Boswell last year, in 2020 there was no talk and no camp competition.

The Steelers did bring in a pair of other long snappers at points over the summer, but part of that was simply because of an injury to Canaday and not an indictment on his performance. He is embarking on Year 4 as the Steelers’ snapper.

Late camp signee Ray-Ray McCloud was kept in large part because of his return duties. He will almost certainly be the kickoff returner, but on punts Diontae Johnson was second-team All Pro as a rookie who only did it eight games last season. But if Johnson evolves into the Steelers’ No. 1 receiver, coaches might be reluctant to expose him to punt returns.

The remainder of Danny Smith’s special-teams units also underwent a makeover of sorts this past offseason. Gone are longtime core members Anthony Chickillo, Roosevelt Nix and Tyler Matakevich. In are Derek Watt, Sean Davis (who was brought back Sunday) and a host of rookies. The only “core” teamer who returned, Jordan Dangerfield, takes over as unit captain.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.