At the beginning of the season, I said that Jordan Berry was as good as gone from Pittsburgh. I was right. However, he was not gone for long. Dustin Colquitt, the veteran who replaced Berry, had his worst statistical year since his rookie season. So Pittsburgh released him on Friday (10/23). Pittsburgh then re-signed Berry before the game on Sunday.
The problem with Jordan Berry is that he is wildly inconsistent. That is why Pittsburgh released him in the first place. So now the Steelers will have to go into the market to find themselves another punter. Luckily for them, there is an excellent punter, just sitting in free agency, and his name is Marquette King.
King has a career average of 46.7 yards per punt, with a long of 72 yards. Currently, he is tied for fourth in NFL history in yards per punt. If that is not impressive enough, King has also never averaged less than 44.1 yards per punt in a season. During his peak in 2013, King averaged 48.9 yards per punt. Throughout his career, he was the definition of good consistent punting.
Despite this, no one would sign Marquette King after his hamstring injury in 2018. So, he played in the XFL. While in the XFL, he led the league in every punting metric. He finished the shortened season with an average of 45.7 yards per punt and a long of 63 yards. If he were to average those numbers in the NFL this season, he would be tied for 16th best. The Pittsburgh Steelers currently rank 27th with 43 yards per punt.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have had punting problems for a long time, and Marquette King may be the solution to those problems. If he can play even close to how he was a few years ago, he would be miles better than Jordan Berry and Dustin Colquitt. The Steelers need to give free-agent Marquette King a chance to be their punter.
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