Estimating the impact each Pittsburgh Steelers rookie will have in 2022
By Tommy Jaggi
Calvin Austin III: Medium impact
It’s not often that I think compensatory fourth-round picks could have a fairly significant impact from the gate for the Steelers, but it’s easy to see a path to playing time for Calvin Austin. While I do believe that Pickens is the better rookie WR and will get more opportunities as a result, Austin was much better than his draft status and there should be enough mouths to feed on this offense.
Austin’s extensive experience and ability to line up all over the field will no doubt help him in this transition at the next level. The Steelers could also be looking for a player who could replace McCloud’s slot role last year and Austin fits the bill.
Likewise, the explosive rookie out of Memphis has experience as a return man, and it’s possible that Pittsburgh could attempt to use him in this capacity as well.
Austin isn’t a gadget player that you have to engineer touches for like former Steelers third-round pick Dri Archer. He’s a very natural receiver and a soft hands catcher who I think will have a medium impact from the gate.