Steelers don't have a designated slot receiver in mind — and they think it's a good thing

On the first day of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, quarterback Mason Rudolph jumped up to snag a high snap. The timing of the screen play was thrown off as a result. But Rudolph was still able to push a short completion to rookie Calvin Austin III.

Austin did the rest.

The diminutive receiver corralled the ball, found some open space and turned on the jets, flying all the way to the end zone for a long catch-and-run touchdown.

“Anytime I see grass, I just think, ‘Run as fast as I can to get to that grass and go,’” Austin said. “(Rudolph) adjusted. Threw it out there. (I) caught it low. Got up, and finished.”

Austin is one of many different receivers and many different body types, who may spend time working from the slot this year.

With JuJu Smith-Schuster (Kansas City Chiefs) and Ray-Ray McCloud (San Francisco 49ers) both on new teams after having left Pittsburgh via free agency, the Steelers were charged with filling that void during the offseason.

Related

• Steelers inside the ropes: Kenny Pickett throws INT on final play of 1st practice of camp
• While waiting for contract, Diontae Johnson sits out team drills on 1st day of Steelers camp
• Mark Madden: Steelers' QB competition smokescreen overshadows plenty of roster concerns

They attempted to do so by taking Austin in the fourth round of the draft, signing Gunner Olszewski in free agency and bringing back Anthony Miller who was retained on a reserve/future contract in January.

All three fill the “traditional NFL slot receiver” build. Each player checks in at 5-foot-9 to 5-11. They are quick, shifty, smart, good in open space and can probably return kicks, too.

During the Ben Roethlisberger era, that wasn’t necessarily the Steelers’ M.O. when it came to addressing that position. For much of Big Ben’s time in Pittsburgh, he had either Hines Ward or Smith-Schuster working out of the slot. In 2020, Schuster’s last full year with the franchise, Touchdown Wire (USA Today) tracked him for 119 slot targets, totaling 888 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Neither Ward nor Smith-Schuster possessed Austin’s raw foot speed. Yet they were both skilled runners after the catch, could break tackles, got open on time, had reliable hands, were fearless, thick and strong, and blocked with passion.

That’s proof that different types of players can be effective from the slot. A theory the Steelers are further testing by running 6-4, 238-pound Chase Claypool from the slot in training camp.

“You see so many people in today’s game playing inside,” head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “Years ago, there was a designated slot guy. And that was the only guy who played in there. At the early stages of my career here, very rarely did you ever see anyone play in there besides Hines Ward. In today’s game, based on schematics and matchups, you see people moving in and out of the slot position all the time.”

Despite the presence of three prototype slot guys in Miller, Austin and Olszewski, Claypool better show some proficiency from the slot. Because he, second-round pick George Pickens and Diontae Johnson are the Steelers’ three most dangerous receivers. And almost no one broke the huddle with one running back, one tight end and three receivers more than the Steelers in 2021. According to Sharp Football Analysis, only the two Super Bowl teams (the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams) employed that formation more than the Steelers last year.

If those three receivers get the lion’s share of the snaps, one — or all — of them will have to master the slot position.

“I’m going to be playing in and out,” Johnson said. “Anybody can play in and out. We just have those types of receivers on the team now. Not saying anything bad about the last group that was here. But anybody can just play everywhere. So we can just be more comfortable.”

That challenge might be most difficult for Pickens, who is making the leap to the NFL as a rookie but is also much more familiar with playing on the outside from his college days at Georgia. Yet he hardly seems intimidated by the idea of bumping inside on occasion.

“The game has changed a lot. It’s no longer (that) a small guy has to play slot. Anybody can play slot depending on what type of play or the RPO. The game has changed a lot in that way,” Pickens said.

I expect the Steelers to tinker with personnel packages a lot more this year as the offense moves away from Ben Roethlisberger’s preferences and toward Matt Canada’s desire for variety and keeping defenses on their toes.

“Everybody has versatility in the receiver room. I wouldn’t say we have locked positions,” Austin said. “Coach (Frisman Jackson) just calls us in there and kinda lets us figure out what position we go in. Because all of us know each position and are able to do a million different things even though we have all those different body types.”

A million different things? I don’t need to see the Steelers wide receivers do a million different things. Compared to last year, I only need to see them do four different things.

• Catch more balls beyond the sticks.

• Run past the sticks more often when they do catch it short.

• Have fewer drops.

• Score more touchdowns.

And I don’t care who does it or from what position. It sounds like neither do they.

Well, at least the “from what position” part, anyway.