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 set a franchise record in punting

Why it will happen: To be clear, most important record with punting the Steelers could set is yards per punt. Even though other categories could be beneficial, they are often influenced by volume, or lack there of. So for this exercise, the main statistic we will focus on is yards per punt.

For reference sake, the Steelers record for yards per punt in a season comes from the year 1961 where Bobby Joe Green averaged 47.0 in 14 games. The second best year for the Steelers came in 1953 with an average of 46.8 yards per punt with the only punter on the roster being Pat Brady. The top number for the Steelers since the NFL merger comes in third place where in 2019 the Steelers averaged 45.5 yards per punt with Jordan Berry.

With the record being 47.0 yards per punt, this is not a huge amount to overcome. New Steelers punter Cameron Johnston already has six years of punting in the NFL, three in Philadelphia and three in Houston, and more than 47.0 yards per punt three different times. In two different seasons, 2018 in Philadelphia and 2022 in Houston, Johnston averaged 48.1 yards per punt while in 2023 with the Texans he averaged 47.7 yards per punt. Johnston’s worst season came in 2019 with the Philadelphia Eagles where he averaged 46.4 yards per punt which would put him third on the Steelers all-time list.

Simply based on the numbers, seeing Johnston eclipse 47.0 yards per punt again is well within his expectations.

Why it won’t happen: Just because a punter has done well in other cities does not mean they will do well in Pittsburgh. Yes, Johnston spent three years in Philadelphia where he averaged 47.0 yards per punt over those three years, it’s still not the same as Western Pennsylvania. So even though the Steelers could see improved punting, it doesn’t mean that they will set the franchise record in yards per punt.

When it comes to Johnston, he ranked tied for 24th last year in hang time. His 4.28 second hang time per punt was well behind Pressley Harvin’s 4.39 seconds and Brad Wing’s 4.48 seconds for Pittsburgh last year. This is significant as I would expect the Steelers to emphasize hang time with Johnston, even if it’s sacrifices some distance. The Steelers would gladly give up 5 yards of distance in a punt that is fair caught rather than give up a return of 10 yards. This has seemed to be their philosophy in that aspect of the game in recent years. For that reason, I would not be surprised if Johnston has his lowest yards per punt of his career his first year in Pittsburgh.

Prediction: I fully intended on agreeing with the scenario when I first presented it based on Johnston‘s numbers over his six seasons where his career average is 47.3 yards per punt. But as I made the case for why it wouldn’t happen, I do see the Steelers attempting to get more hang time from Johnston which could affect his distance. Although yards for punt is a great stat, I think the Steelers will look more at the net yards and less the distance the fall travels to the returner. Johnston still could break the Steelers record and I think he will still land towards the top of their all-time list as the Steelers will see an improvement from recent years, but I’m not expecting it to be enough to grab the top spot.

Miss a scenario? Check out yesterday’s scenario below, and be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for training camp.

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