49ers Sign Former Steelers Punter Pressley Harvin III
The San Francisco 49ers are signing former Pittsburgh Steelers punter Pressley Harvin III to a one-year deal, according to Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team.
San Francisco’s punter Mitch Wishnowsky is dealing with knee irritation, so Harvin will get the nod in the 49ers’ preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday.
Harvin, a seventh-round selection out of Georgia Tech by the Steelers in 2021, was released in February after a tumultuous three-year tenure. He could just never remain consistent.
In his post-season debriefing, Mike Tomlin mentioned that Harvin had not met their standards.
“You know, I’ll acknowledge that Pressley (Harvin) wasn’t consistent enough, particularly down the stretch,” Tomlin said.
Harvin’s flat punts left the team out to dry. He was consistently outdueled each week against opponents, putting an already struggling offense in even tougher spots when the field position battle gets so lopsided and opposing offenses start on short fields.
Harvin had the second-worst yards per punt in 2023 at just 43.8 yards.His struggles against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card loss were the last straw, as Harvin put the team on multiple short fields throughout the game. A mere 38.5 punt average led Harvin to one of his most lackluster career showings. For a team that plays the field position game so strongly, having a subpar punter is a big deal, especially when they invested a draft pick in Harvin.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted Harvin for a tryout at their rookie minicamp in May, but a contract wasn’t offered to the former Ray Guy Award Winner.
In 2022, Harvin finished 19th in the NFL in net punting average at 41.1, a three-yard improvement over his rookie season, and his 137 total return yards was the second-fewest among regular punters. But his gross average was just 44.5, or 28th in the league, because of too few short kicks off the side of his foot. And that took a step back in 2023, leading to the Steelers to part ways.
They Steelers signed former Texans punter Cameron Johnston to a three-year contract this offseason to end their punting woes.
So far, he’s been an instant success.
While signing autographs next to Johnston at the Friday Night Lights practice, Mike Tomlin told fans, “Hey, you guys see our new stud punter we got over here. How about five right there?”
Cameron Johnston will be entering his seventh season as a starting punter as he spent three years in Philadelphia and then three years in Houston. The thing the Steelers like about Johnston is his consistency. Over his six seasons, his average yards per punt have been nearly identical each season, only deviating by less than two yards.
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