The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for the 2024 regular season, but before the real games begin, the team has to head to training camp back at Saint Vincent College in order to fine tune their skills. As we here at SCN prepare you for the start of camp, we give you a series called “30 Scenarios in 30 Days” which gives you a Steelers scenario every day leading up to the start of camp.

It is simple how it works. We provide you the scenario, reasons why it will or won’t happen, and then our prediction for what we think will take place.

Let’s get to the scenario…

Scenario: The Steelers will have a kickoff return for a TD in 2024

Why it will happen: The Pittsburgh Steelers wasted no time in making changes when the NFL adopted significantly new rules for kickoffs in 2024. Within hours of the approval, the Steelers signed kick return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson, a player with 9 career in his 11 NFL seasons, in an attempt to take advantage of the play now coming back into significance in the NFL.

Because about 78% of kickoffs were touchbacks in 2023, including those that were treated as a touchback because they were fair caught, the NFL only saw four kick return touchdowns last season. This led to the massive rule change for this season which should see a huge increase in the number of returns. With these plays occurring more often, it is likely fans will see a lot more touchdowns than before. With the Steelers going out of their way to address the changes, they are just as likely as any team to be able to benefit from the rules.

Why it won’t happen: Just because the Steelers will have more kickoff returns in 2024 based on these new rules does not mean that they will be successful at executing them. The problem is fans really don’t know what to expect. There could be so many returns early, even if it isn’t the Steelers, that giving their opponent the ball with better field position than in previous seasons still might be a more favorable outcome. Add in the fact the Steelers have not returned a kickoff for a touchdown since Week 17 of the 2017 season when JuJu Smith-Schuster returned a kickoff against the Cleveland Browns, it’s not like the Steelers have excelled in this phase of the game.

Prediction: Even if the rules hadn’t changed, the law of averages likely would bring the Steelers into having decent odds of a kick return for a touchdown sooner than later. Previously the low number of kick returns may have meant it would take more time until they were able to bust one to the house. If the Steelers are constantly returning the ball, and can get the right people doing the right things, chances are they’ll be able to break one in 2024. But to be honest, I don’t see it as being all that special as I expect most NFL teams to have a kickoff return for a touchdown with a fair number being able to do it multiple times. But with these new rules being so different than what the NFL has seen before, trying to forecast the success of returns by any team is nearly impossible.

Miss a scenario? You can see the full list of scenarios below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.

Day 11: The Steelers Will Have A Winning AFC North Record, Again

Day 10: Patrick Queen Will Make The Pro Bowl Again In 2024

Day 9: The Steelers Will Have A Top 10 Rush Defense

Day 8: The Steelers Will Rush For More Than 2500 Yards In 2024

Day 7: T.J. Watt Will Break The Single-Season Sack Record

Day 6: George Pickens Will Have Double-Digit Receiving TDs

Day 5: Russell Wilson Will Start All 17 Steelers Games In 2024

Day 4: The Steelers Defense Will Have More Takeaways This Season

Day 3: The Steelers Will Top Their 2023 Sack Total

Day 2: The Steelers Offense Will Have More Turnovers This Season

Day 1: The Steelers Will Go Above And Beyond Their Win-Loss Prediction In 2024