Welcome to the Acrisure Fan Advantage Steelers mailbag. You can submit your questions all season long via the Fan Advantage online portal, or contact Brian directly @BrianBatko and bbatko@post-gazette.com
Tom Z: Your stat predictions for Gunner this year? Six catches for 86 yards. 2 punts for fair catches? Nice hair, though? Austin on returns and Robinson in the passing game don’t make him redundant?
Brian: Oh, Gunner Olszewski. Nice hair, and he’s in the running for the best accent on the team, that’s for sure. But I have gotten quite a few questions about him and why he made the 53-man roster again in his second season with the Steelers.
For starters, six receptions for 86 yards would both be career-bests for him, so I’m not necessarily predicting that. Coming out of training camp and the preseason last year, it seemed he might be able to carve out a role for himself on offense, perhaps as a reliable slot receiver who can get open quickly and move the chains with short-yardage catches (which should be Allen Robinson’s forte now). Instead, he was relegated to the same sort of minimal usage he had with New England, though his seven targets, 13 touches, and 92 yards from scrimmage all were career highs.
Offensive coordinator Matt Canada mostly asked Olszewski to run-block and take the occasional jet sweep. While those duties don’t exactly make him the most exciting player from the outside, it also speaks to what the Steelers value in him. He’s willing to do anything and everything on a football field, and while most players say that, Olszewski lives it. Beyond his receiving involvement or lack thereof, he also puts his body on the line as a blocker, covers kicks and punts, really whatever is needed.
And, of course, as Tom mentioned, there’s his return ability, which is a bit of a mixed bag at this point. Yes, he was a first-team All-Pro returner in 2019 for the Patriots, but all he did in that phase of the game last year was muff a punt deep in his own territory against his old team and nearly lose another fumble Week 4 against the Jets. That got him benched by Mike Tomlin for Steven Sims the rest of the way. Now, it looks as if Calvin Austin III (punts) and Anthony McFarland (kicks) are first in line to handle those responsibilities. Still, having a Gunner-of-all-trades on your roster doesn't hurt, even if he’s inactive when everyone’s healthy.
George T: Hi Brian, Have you noticed G Pickens does not get separation on go routes and has to have contested catches? Does he have the speed to go deep?
Brian: George Pickens ran a 4.47 40-yard dash at the combine, so yes, he has enough speed, but he’s not a true burner. To be fair, that was also his time less than a year after a torn ACL, so it’s possible he’s faster now than he was when he left Georgia.
You’re right, though, that creating separation is not a strong suit for Pickens. In fact, many consider it his primary weakness as a receiver. I asked Kenny Pickett about it for the purpose of this mailbag, and here’s what the quarterback had to say about throwing to Pickens, with or without a huge window:
“I'm just going to put it in his zip code, and he’ll do the rest. That’s kind of been the M.O. here since I’ve started. He’s an unbelievable player. I’ll just continue to put the ball [in the air], throw it his way, and let him do the rest.”
That’s a pretty basic football strategy. If you’re more analytically inclined, Pickens had the league’s second-highest “catch rate over expected” last year, according to Next Gen Stats. Essentially, Pickens was targeted in a lot of tight windows, which is due in part to the propensity of vertical routes, but lack of separation also played a factor.
Getting open at a higher rate, or even just a little more open, combined with his absurd ball skills and catch radius, should contribute to a Year 2 jump for No. 14.
Artie B: Brian, I keep reading about "position flexibility," especially along the offensive line. Wouldn't it make sense to get more out of a team's long snapper than just special team work? Why could he not serve as the backup center?
Brian: I won’t lie to you; I often think about how and why long snapping became such a specialized position. Clearly, it’s unique enough in its challenges that it’s not like other jobs where the same person can handle them. For instance, a kicker who handles both kicks and kickoffs. Or a personal protector on the punt team who also plays wide running back or safety.
The biggest issue is size, obviously. Christian Kuntz is listed at 6-foot-1, 228 pounds. Put him at center, and he’d make Kendrick Green look like Flozell Adams. If your counter suggestion is to use one of your centers as a long snapper, I’m not sure you’d like to see 6-5, 298-pound Mason Cole trying to run down a returner in coverage. Now that I think about it, the perfect person to fulfill your half-baked idea? Kendrick Green.
Tell you what, though: Cole probably wouldn’t want to do Kuntz’s job just as much as Kuntz wouldn’t want Cole’s job. I’ve written about emergency long snappers before, so feel free to revisit that story.
Michael F: Any idea what is happening with Gentry?
Brian: He signed with the Bengals … practice squad. Bit of a tough break for a fifth-year veteran after not making the club here, and surely he would’ve preferred being scooped up on another 53-man roster, but Cincinnati’s tight end room isn’t much of a murderer’s row.
Irv Smith Jr., Drew Sample, and Mitchell Wilcox? Probably easier to get a game-day elevation or even an active spot with that crew as opposed to Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward, and especially Darnell Washington, who boasts a similar size-blocking-catch radius skill set.
Gentry was a popular guy around here, though, hence all the fan questions about him. His best friend forever, Friermuth, called it “a little weird, a little upsetting” to see Gentry join the rival Bengals, “but it’s all good.”
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko
First Published: September 7, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
