When it comes to position battles, there aren’t many in Steelers training camp that could result in a direct impact on the field this fall.
But there is one, in the special teams side of the game, that has heated up in August.
Rookie Pressley Harvin III and veteran Jordan Berry have squared off for the punter job. And, so far, it’s tough to tell who is leading the race, with each specialist getting a chance to punt in the first two preseason games.
“Jordan’s a good guy,” Harvin III said Saturday at training camp. “I like him to death — I love him, too. He’s been a big help… Just being able to have him in practice every day… not only me pushing him but him pushing me to be the best that we can be, together.”
“He’s a good bloke,” said Berry, the Australian seventh-year veteran, of Harvin III. “He pays attention pretty well and is trying to pick up as much as he can. He’s following how we go about practice and different procedures… He’s learning, and coming along quite well.”
Berry and Harvin III have a unique connection. Several years ago, Berry helped out at a high school punting camp, and Harvin III was in attendance. Now the two are fighting for the same job. But Berry isn’t letting the completion result in bitterness.
“You hear of some teams where other specialists will come in and, I’ll just be blunt, some guys are absolute (expletive) to other people,” Berry said. “And I’m like, there’s no point in being like that to someone. He’s here trying to get a job, and there’s no point in being mean. I’ll help out where I can.”
The Steelers used a draft pick on a punter, so the thought is that the organization wants Harvin III to beat out Berry. But Berry doesn’t exactly feel that.
“It’s one of those things where, you’re in the NFL, at this level, they want the best," ” said Berry, who was 15th in the NFL in net punting average in 2020. "They’re going to do what they can to double check that they do have the best.
“If you put a bad practice or bad game out there, at some point, they’re going to double check that you’re still the top guy.”
Harvin III — the Georgia Tech product who was the NCAA’s Ray Guy Award winner in 2020 — got the first crack at the in-game competition, and got off to a smashing start with four tremendous punts against the Cowboys in the Hall of Fame Game. Here’s how his night went:
• Harvin’s first punt, from the 45, was downed at the 10-yard line.
• His second, a dandy, sailed 48 yards and stopped like a wedge shot at the 1-yard line.
• The third punt traveled 51 yards and went out of bounds at the 11.
• Harvin’s final boot, a knuckler, went 49 yards and caused Dallas returner Reggie Davis to muff the punt, which Steelers gunner Anthony Johnson pounced on.
It appeared Harvin III had solidified the spot right then and there. But back came Berry in Thursday’s game in Philadelphia, rifling off four punts in the first half of the Steelers’ win:
• Berry’s first punt went 40 yards and was downed at the 2-yard line.
• His next soared 37 yards, and pinned Philadelphia at the 7.
• Berry’s third went 45 yards and induced a fair catch.
• Number four was a blast, traveling 54 yards, flipping the field.
So that’s where it stands now. Each punter with four punts, none of them shanked, a couple of them spectacular.
Berry said his performance was nothing “out of the ordinary.” But he has been inconsistent over the years, and it seems like the punter that proves to have the most stability will be the one who travels with the team to Buffalo for Week One.
“The biggest goal that I have is to continue to be the best me,” Harvin III said. “I tell myself every day to get one percent better every day.”
Time will tell if that’s enough to take down the incumbent.