An annual rite of passage… Our Training Camp Previews for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The concept here is pretty straightforward; we’ll take a look at each position. Who is vying for a place on the 53-man roster and how will that happen? Obviously there are some spots much each easier to break down than others but we’ll do our best to cover it all. Today we cover the Specialists.
Chris Boswell, 11th Season
What can I really say here? Chris Boswell is coming off an All-Pro season in which he was 41 of 44 in field goal attempts and he was perfect on his PATs going 35 for 35. Barring injury, there is nothing that will keep him from being the kicker this year.
Ben Sauls, Rookie
The left-footed kicker from down the hallway nailed six field goals of 50 yards or longer last season for the Panthers. He has a big leg (61 of 80 kickoffs were touchbacks) and he has better than average hang time. The one thing I noticed about him is his run up to the PAT or FG. He seems a little slower than most kickers which could invite blocks at the pro level. His experience kicking in Acrisure Stadium is something not to be dismissed either.
Christian Kuntz, 5th Season
You don’t keep players because they are “nice guys” but it sure helps. Christian Kuntz is an overall good guy who is active and visible in the Pittsburgh Community. More importantly for our needs is ability to long snap. Kuntz has proven himself to be reliable and that’s job one for a long snapper. Fans often measure a long snapper simply by “bad snaps” and that’s fair to a point. We also have to remember that placement is huge as well.
Tucker Addington, 1st Season
Addington is a first year player from Sam Houston State. He’s spent time with New England, Washington and Miami and he’s appeared in four career games. A combination of superior snapping and mistakes by Kuntz is his only path to the roster.
Corliss Waitman, 3rd Season
When Cam Johnston went down in week one, Waitman stepped up big time. That isn’t to say that he led the NFL in punting or dropping balls inside the 20, because he didn’t. What he did do however was give the position stability. He has the ability to boom the Hell out of the ball and is still looking to find his footing a bit with accuracy, but he did exactly what you needed in a reserve.
Cam Johnston, 8th Season
After coming over in free agency in 2024, Cameron Johnston appeared to finally be the answer for the Steelers at the punter position. He had a great camp, great preseason and then suffered a severe knee injury in week one in Atlanta. By all accounts, Johnston is 100% and ready to reclaim his starting role. The reason he was thought to be “the answer” is because of his consistency which was something the team was lacking. He can boom it and he can place it and both equally important.
How It Shakes Out
No surprise here…Boswell, Johnston and Kuntz are your guys.
