Steelers' Mike Tomlin "Can't Say Enough" About Undrafted Rookie In NFL Debut

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very convincing win at home over the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, as the cruised to a 23-9 victory. After coming off of a bye week, the Black and Gold were mostly healthy going into this contest, and that helped with them getting control of the game early on and never looking back. Of course, there were some issues popping up during the game, but almost all of them were not significant enough for Head Coach Mike Tomlin to address them in his postgame press conference afterwards. 

During his weekly press conference, Tomlin spoke about the one injured player, Calvin Austin III, and how backup return man Ke'Shawn Williams did in his place. 

"Can't say enough about young [Ke'Shawn Williams] as a punt returner, getting his first NFL action in place of Calvin," Tomlin said. "I thought he made good decisions; I thought he was mechanically solid, fundamentally solid."

In his first ever NFL game, Williams had three punt returns for 30 yards, with his longest being 15. He also had two kickoff returns, as each of those went 25 yards. Overall, he held onto the ball and didn't needlessly run himself into traffic or try to backpedal like many rookies do. With how Tomlin raved about him, it sounds like he could get another chance, even when Austin returns.

Williams also had a 47-yard punt return into field goal range that was wiped out by a very questionable "blindside block" penalty. While that play won't officially go down in the record books, the tape still shows the immense talent that this undrafted rookie has. If he can get another little opening like that with a less strict officiating crew, he could easily break one for a touchdown. 

While Tomlin made a comment about practice squad elevation, the Steelers officially announced that they signed Williams to the 53-man roster, and that is where he is listed on the team's official website. Him getting that elevation shows how much Pittsburgh believes in his abilities. He didn't make it past final roster cuts, but that was more because they only wanted to use five wide receivers instead of six.

Steelers' Roster Niches Could Give Williams More Reps

Typically, teams don't like having starters as return men. When Austin returns, there is a very realistic chance that he loses some of those chances to Williams and/or just becomes the backup punt returner and only comes in if something were to unfortunately happen to the undrafted rookie. There is always a place on the team for people that contribute well on special teams. 

Practice squad running back Trey Sermon was elevated twice to help out with kickoff returns. The rule there is that once someone is elevated three times, you have to either sign him to the team or cut him. To keep him on the practice squad, Williams can take over as a kickoff returner alongside Kenneth Gainwell like he did in Week 6. 

Either way, Williams clearly caught the attention of his coaches, and they want to see a lot more of what he can do. He did well enough in practice that they were comfortable putting him on the 53-man roster instead of just elevating him for one game and seeing what happens. The Steelers have had some quality play from undrafted free agents recently, and Williams is a part of that.

He likely won't see a lot of action as a wide receiver due to the fact that he is not much of a run blocker. However, if he continues to excel on special teams, he could see a few balls coming his way as the season progresses.

What do you think about Tomlin praising Williams after his NFL debut? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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