This is the 11th and final installment in a series looking at the Steelers by position heading into their 2024 training camp at Saint Vincent College July 24. Today: Specialists
Players (4): Chris Boswell (PK), Matthew Wright (PK), Cameron Johnston (P), Christian Kuntz (LS)
If you're going to play to win close games, you'd better be successful in the margins. And in many cases, the Steelers have done that over the past few seasons despite not having a true weapon at punter.
Enter Cameron Johnston this offseason. Signed by the Steelers in free agency, Johnston has been one of the NFL's more consistent punters over his previous six NFL seasons, averaging 47.3 yards per kick and never falling below 46.4 yards per punt over a single season.
It's not always about the booming kicks, but consistency is critical.
"I love him. He's a real pro," said Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith. "He's strong. He's good. He's got 'game,' and I call 'game' different types of punts. We could do a lot of things with him in that game. He's a pro. I love him. I really do. He's going to really help us. I think you're going to see a big improvement in that area with him."
The Steelers averaged just 44.0 yards per punt last season with a net of 39.1 yards. Johnston averaged 43.7 net yards on his punts last season for the Houston Texans.
Four or five yards might not seem like a lot, but it can mean the difference between a team attempting a field goal or punting the ball away.
The addition of Johnston should give the Steelers an edge in the kicking game against just about every opponent when he's coupled with placekicker Chris Boswell.
Boswell made 29 of his 31 field goal attempts last season, including 6 of 7 attempts from beyond 50 yards. He's as good as they come in the NFL and at 33 doesn't appear to be slowing down.
Boswell has made 87.17 percent of his career kicks, good for sixth on the NFL's all-time list. That includes making 21 of 25 attempts from beyond 50 yards over the past three seasons.
The Steelers also signed Matthew Wright in the offseason to ensure Boswell doesn't have to do all of the kicking in training camp and the preseason.
Wright has filled in for Boswell in 2020 and 2022 when he was dealing with injuries, making 16 of 18 field goal attempts for the Steelers. He's made 40 of 47 attempts in his career with four different teams and will be looking to showcase himself for the other 31 teams in the preseason.
Pittsburgh native Christian Kuntz enters his fourth season as the Steelers' long snapper. The former linebacker at Duquesne offers tackling ability at the position that shows up on game day. He had four tackles on special teams last season.
