Steelers All 91: PK Matthew Wright
All 91 is a Pittsburgh Steelers Now series profiling each of the 91 members of the Steelers 2019 training camp roster.
16 • Matthew Wright, rookie kicker
Last year: Spent his third straight season as the primary kicker for a nationally ranked UCF squad. Signed with the Steelers right after the draft as a UDFA.
Stats: Made 12 of 14 field goals (85.7%) and all 74 of his extra point attempts as a senior with the Knights. His field goal percentage was tied for 16th in FBS amongst kicker with 10 attempts. Holds the UCF record for career field goals (55) and points (375).
Accolades, Highlights:
Two-time AAC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2018.
Congrats to Matt Wright for adding his name to the @UCF_Football record books tonight with his 53rd career field goal. Moments like this are earned in the offseason. 4👇🏽U pic.twitter.com/HaMmSTy7A4
— 4th Down University™️ (@4thDownU) November 18, 2018
Camp outlook: Wright’s camp battle with incumbent Chris Boswell is a strange one. Boswell has a contract that will cause significant dead cap hits if he is released, so in all likelihood, if Boswell returns to form, it doesn’t matter much what Wright does.
Furthermore, it’s interesting that the Steelers went with a relatively unheralded rookie to compete with Boswell with so many experienced kickers around, including Matt McCrane, who was cut in the spring.
Even if Boswell doesn’t return to form, it’s not going to be good enough for Wright to just beat him. He’s going to have to be better than a potential waiver-wire add, as well.
Projected role: The conventional wisdom is that Boswell will get back to his old game and Wright spends the latter half of the preseason auditioning for a job elsewhere, but stranger things have happened.
Coverage links:
The rest of the 91:
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