Here is the next in a position-by-position series on the Steelers at the conclusion of the 2022 season as they head into the start of the NFL free agent period, which opens March 15.
SPECIALISTS (3)
Chris Boswell, Pressley Harvin, Christian Kuntz
(free agent scorecard: None)
A LAST LOOK AT 2022
It was an interesting season for the Steelers' specialists in 2022, as placekicker Chris Boswell missed five games with a groin injury.
Boswell made just 71.4 percent of his kicks in 2022, the second-worst percentage of his career. However, he also made 7 of 9 kicks from 50 yards and beyond, including matching his career-long with a 59-yard kick.
But five of his eight misses came between 40 and 49 yards, where he was just 5 of 10 on the season.
With Boswell out, the Steelers turned to Nick Sciba for one game and then signed Matthew Wright off the practice squad of the Chiefs for four games.
Combined, they made 14 of 16 field goals, though not displaying the range of Boswell. Sciba did not attempt a kick beyond 40 yards, while Wright was 4 of 5 on kicks between 40 and 49 yards. Wright also made his only attempt beyond 50 yards, making a 52-yard attempt in a 24-17 win over the Colts.
On the surface, punter Pressley Harvin's gross average of 44.5 yards per kick doesn't look all that impressive. After all, it ranked 28th in the league. But his 41.1 net average on kicks was 19th and his five touchbacks tied for 12th fewest.
Harvin also had 22 kicks on which he drew a fair catch, tied for eighth-most in the NFL, while the 24 kicks that were returned against him were the sixth-fewest among punters who kicked in all 17 games.
As a result of all of that, the 5.7 yards per punt return allowed on Harvin's kicks during the season was the second-lowest average in the league.
He also was much more consistent in his second season, averaging 45 or more yards per punt in seven of the team's final 10 games. That had been an issue during his rookie season in 2021, as he struggled with consistency when the weather turned colder. That was not an issue in 2022.
Long-snapper Christian Kuntz completed his second season with the team.
ONE STAT THAT STOOD OUT
The Steelers' 10 missed kicks in 2022 led the NFL. But three teams – the Browns, Chiefs and Saints – had a lower field goal percentage as the Steelers. The Steelers, who made 77.3 percent of their field goals, attempted a league-high 44 field goals.
LOOK AHEAD TO 2023
Boswell is still just 31 years old and has made just over 86 percent of his kicks in his career, so there's a good chance he'll bounce back in 2023.
His eight missed field goals in 2022 were more than he had in the previous three seasons combined.
As for Harvin, the big-legged punter has gotten markedly better at the directional punting the Steelers prefer. His best years remain ahead of him.
Given some of the kicking exhibitions he's put on at training camp when asked simply to kick the ball as far as he can, he's got the leg strength that is on level with anyone in the NFL.
All of that said, the Steelers typically bring additional punters and kickers to training camp to, at the very least, take some pressure off the incumbents of having to kick every day. That likely won't change in 2023. But will they have a chance to beat either one out for a job? Well, that's somewhat doubtful.
Could that also be the situation with Kuntz? Who knows? But he was a surprise winner of the long-snapper's job coming out of camp in 2021 when he unseated Kameron Canaday, so you never know.
