Steelers 2-a-days: Specialists Christian Kuntz, Braden Mann part of camp competitions
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Editor’s note: From the end of minicamp through the day the team reports to training camp at Saint Vincent, the Trib will be running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, assessing each player’s outlook for the 2023 season. The breakdown will go through the roster in mostly alphabetical order, (at least) two per day, from June 16-July 26. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.
LS CHRISTIAN KUNTZ
Experience: Played every regular-season game the past two seasons for the Steelers
Contract status: $940,000 cap hit in 2023, after which scheduled for restricted free agency
2023 outlook: Through organized team activities and minicamp, Kuntz was the lone specialist who had no backup. He therefore could have been considered one of the few players on the 90-man roster all but guaranteed of his role for 2023.
But the week after the team broke minicamp and dispersed for six weeks headed into the opening of training camp, among the Steelers’ roster moves was the signing of another long snapper, Rex Sunahara. Does that mean Kuntz’ job isn’t secure?
Of course, the company line is that no player’s job is safe. So, sure, Sunahara’s presence increases the odds Kuntz won’t serve a third year as the Steelers’ snapper. But at bare minimum, it would be fair to consider Kuntz the heavy favorite to hold the gig.
A 29-year-old who attended Chartiers Valley and Duquesne, Kuntz needed five NFL training camps — and a position switch — before he stuck in the league and made his regular-season debut. And he did it for his hometown team, no less. A linebacker in college, Kuntz’s first foray with the Steelers was as an edge rusher. But since he was deemed a long snapper in 2021, Kuntz has flourished. He beat out incumbent Kameron Canaday that year and has handled every Steelers’ long snap since.
Kuntz, by all indications, has the trust and respect of special teams coordinator Danny Smith, punter/holder Pressley Harvin III and kicker Chris Boswell, so there is no reason to believe the Steelers are not actively seeking to replace him. But it would serve Kuntz well to have a strong training camp nonetheless.
The long snapper is perhaps the most nondescript player on a football team's roster. And the Steeler Christian Kuntz hopes to keep it that way.@C_AdamskiTribhttps://t.co/5eJ4ENFwlc
— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) September 2, 2022
P BRADEN MANN
Experience: 4th season
Contract status: $1.01 million cap hit in 2023, after which scheduled for free agency
2023 outlook: With the pedigree of being a Ray Guy Award winner as college football’s best punter in addition to being a former sixth-round pick who has held the gig as an NFL team’s No. 1 punter the past three seasons, Mann is no ordinary “camp leg” so often brought in to Saint Vincent as a glorified prop. Acquired via a waiver claim this spring, the 25-year-old is a legitimate option to make the Steelers’ regular-season roster and is bona fide competition for incumbent Harvin.
Mann has a resume a lot like Harvin’s: strong leg, college accolades (Harvin won the Ray Guy two years after Mann did in 2018), thought highly enough he was drafted (Harvin in 2020, sixth round) — but inconsistent results in the pros. Relatively short for a punter (5-foot-11), Mann ranked 20th in net punting average (40.8), 17th in gross average (46.9), 25th in touchback percentage (9.6%) and 24th in rate of kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line (32.5%) among 34 qualifying NFL punters last season. Harvin rated roughly in the same neighborhood statistically.
The smart money says the well-liked Harvin keeps the job. He certainly will win any “tie” during training camp and the preseason. Harvin is slightly younger, probably has a higher ceiling and has a history (and relationships built) with the Steelers. But it’s not out of the completely question Mann is the Steelers’ Week 1 punter.
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