Steelers 2-a-days: Corliss Waitman to compete at punter, time for James Washington’s emergence?

Editor’s note: Leading up to a unique Pittsburgh Steelers training camp staged at Heinz Field this year, the Tribune-Review will be running through the team’s 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2020 season. The breakdown will go through the roster, in mostly alphabetical order, two per day, between June 9 and July 23, a day that was originally planned to be reporting day for players to camp. (Contract data courtesy spotrac.com)

The @seniorbowl is looking live at @TroyTrojansFB vs. @WeAreSouth_FB. We’ve gotten calls from scouts on only a couple specialists this year and one is South punter #87 Corliss Waitman (@CWaitman87). Fielding a lefty is tricky for PR. Many scouts think he’s draftable. pic.twitter.com/tzRo4kJ09x

— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) October 24, 2018

P CORLISS WAITMAN

Experience: Rookie

Contract status: $613,000 cap hit in 2020, part of entry 3-year deal

2020 outlook: Waitman is part of a family of at least four Division I athletes before him. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound lefty was ranked as one of the top punter/kickers in the country coming out of high school. He ended up as South Alabama’s primary punter for 2½ seasons, earning all-conference accolades. Waitman enrolled at Mississippi State as a graduate transfer in 2019 but had a waiver for sixth-year eligibility denied by the NCAA, so he sat out all of last season.

Bottom line: Jordan Berry has been the Steelers punter the past five seasons, but at times the Steelers have been frustrated with his performance. Waitman is the latest being given a shot to beat Berry out. Waitman has experience as a holder, a must if he is to make the team. The trendy NFL move for punting is to use lefties, the theory being it’s more difficult for the opponent to catch a ball spinning in an unfamiliar direction. Waitman seems to have an NFL-caliber leg, but can he be trusted? There is five years of capital built up between Berry and the likes of Mike Tomlin and special teams coach Danny Smith, so Berry is the favorite until proven otherwise.

WR JAMES WASHINGTON

Experience: 3rd season

Contract status: $1.23 million cap hit in 2020, signed through 2021

2020 outlook: By the midway point of his second season last year, Washington’s career outlook wasn’t too bright. He had 30 catches on 69 targets for 447 yards with one touchdown over his first 1½ seasons. He had some high-profile drops and was surpassed on the depth chart by a rookie. But, finally, things began to click for Washington over the next games (Weeks 9-16 of 2019), when he put up 34 catches for 574 yards and three touchdowns.

Bottom line: The narrative changed back to Washington being the big-play deep threat the Steelers thought they were getting when they drafted him in the 2018 second round. But with the emergence of 2019 third-round pick Diontae Johnson, the presence of former Pro Bowler JuJu Smith-Schuster and the addition of Steelers’ top 2020 draft pick Chase Claypool, Washington needs to prove the late-2019 Washington is the real him if he wants to be close to an everydown option in the offense. The return of Ben Roethlisberger should help raise the production of all the wide receivers, but Washington’s place among the WR pecking order could fall either way.

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