Welcome to the terrible take, a daily segment telling Steel Nation what's on our minds.

I'm Melanie Freelander.

After missing his entire rookie season due to injury, wide receiver Calvin Austin

and the third seemed primed for breakout season in 2023.

The speedy Whiteout only recorded four catches

on eight targets in the preseason,

but that did include a long of 67 yards, a touchdown, and an average of 8.5 yards after catch.

That hasn't really translated into the regular season.

While he is averaging 10.6 yards per reception, he has only been targeted five times in the last six weeks since

teammate Deonti Johnson returned from his hamstring injury.

And not surprisingly, his snap count has been around 10 per game or less during that time.

As far as punt returns, Austin hasn't broken one for big numbers yet.

He currently ranks 19th in the league with 6.8 yards per return and along of 21 yards.

He has shown reliable ball security though, so he's still an upgrade over Gunnar Olzewski.

So Austin hasn't had the success we were expecting this season so far, but there is reason to believe that things will get better for him.

With new leadership on the offensive unit, running backs coach Eddie Faulkner serving as offensive coordinator and

quarterback coach Mike Sullivan calling the plays, things looked different last

week in the passing game. Quarterback Kenny Pickett was spreading the ball

around to all of his receivers and pushing the ball downfield for the first time in a long time.

He had a season high completion percentage in total passing yards.

It was without doubt Pickett's most complete game of the season and

maybe of his career. And with the quarterback success, so go the wide receivers.

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