Player superlatives for the Steelers 2022 NFL Draft picks
By Andrew Falce
Steelers best fit
Calvin Austin was a relatively surprising pick in the fourth round as the Steelers didn’t show a lot of interest in him pre-draft. That said, this was likely a case of the team being surprised he fell, as most seemed to rank Austin as a day two pick. With a huge hole at slot receiver, Austin has an instant path to succeeding in this offense.
To be clear, Austin isn’t the typical Steelers receiver. He is built in the Tyreek Hill mold of player, where he is extremely small but has blazing speed and runs some sharp routes. The team is moving on from a bigger and more physical slot receiver in JuJu Smith-Schuster, and while Chase Claypool will likely get the first crack at the slot, Austin will be a great compliment.
The Steelers essentially got an offensive upgrade from Ray-Ray McCloud in Austin. He is a more dynamic receiver and gadget player and thus should be more effective in this offense. The team clearly wanted to get McCloud involved last year, so Austin could be in for some early work with the team. He is a little small, but his fit with what this offense wants to do is great.