One of the more surprising moves of the 2019 offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers was giving punter Jordan Berry a new contract. Pittsburgh gave Berry a two-year contract worth nearly $3 million. This was despite Berry’s glaring inconsistency over the past two seasons.
Having said that, with the Steelers currently holding 10 picks in the 2019 NFL draft, they need to draft a punter on the third day to push Berry in training camp and the preseason.
When you are talking about punters, no one gets really excited with some analysts not scouting them at all. But thanks to the power of the internet I was able to discern there are two punters in the upcoming draft who could be worthy of a seventh-round pick.
Mitch Wishnowsky of Utah and Jake Bailey of Stanford seem to be the guys who are going to get the most attention at the end of the draft. They are both players with big legs who averaged around 45 yards per punt in college and were consistent with their efforts. They didn’t get to 45 yards per kick by booting a 60-yard effort followed by a 30-yard one.
But why draft either Bailey or Wishnowsky? Because securing one for almost no cost is a safer bet than assuming one could be signed as an UDFA after the draft ends. Berry needs to understand his contract doesn’t secure him a spot on the roster.
